I've been noticing a weird phenomena in the coverage of the Harbour boat accident and I am wondering if I am imagining things. 14 young people, all drunk, decide to steal a boat and then have an accident. Maybe in time as more facts are revealed the tune will change, but I see the reporters skip really quickly, almost embarrassed over the '14 young people, all drunk, decide to steal a boat ' part and concentrate on the tragic consequences.

Now it got me thinking. How would this be treated if 5 drunk people in Penrith were killed in a stolen hotted up car driven by a P-plater. I really believe they would be treated a lot differently by the media.

Now is class the reason? i.e. Boats in Balmain, vs hot rods in Penrith. Or is it the sentimentality and glorification of a problem in 'Our Sydney Harbour'. Or is it just the novelty of the boat vs car crash. Or maybe a campaign for the implementation of more boating rules, which seemed to be quite a focus on the news with 2 or 3 people pro-actively pooh poohing the idea. Or is it just the media deciding the deaths are more important, and my Penrith car crash would be treated in the same way, and I'm just way too cynical?

It's probably too soon for this post and I apologise if I have offended, and I do feel for all the families of the people involved in the Harbour boat accident, but the topic of this post is about the media treatment of the accident.

I think the car smashes have become such a norm that...thats just it...they are the norm.
The newspapers jump in at the sensational and the different.
The Daily Telegraph had about 6 pages on the accident (we get the Tele...the wife does the sudaku).
It could have been a quiet week at the Tele or their reporters might have been able to get to the location easier.
Whatever...my deep sympathies to family and friends.
The Tele shouldnt be read. It complains about the sex criminals yet it pumps huge amounts of sex sleaze out into the world itself.
I guess we will cut if off as it goes down that dark road. Im thinking about all of the old newspapers that used to hang on a nail in the old dunnies when I think of most modern newspapers.

Dear Usual Suspect,

I think it is perhaps the novelty involved in this case.

The boat was only supposed to hold 8 people - 14 got into it.
Plus it's Sydney Harbour - at a dangerous intersection - which
has boats coming and going in several directions. All this (plus what else will be discovered) aroused the media interest - as well as the fact that the kids were all locals who worked in the area.

And as Gibo pointed out - car crashes are nothing new.