Go a bit further in your thoughts and ask why they are not reported.
Madeleine McCann's disappearance for example. Kids go missing every day, most of those aren't reported. Why this one? Even the tiniest of errors at airports get reported too. Take a theme park. Daily ride breakdowns aren't reported by the news, but if one rollercoaster came off the tracks, then it would be all over the place. Why? Because it's [/i]unusual[/i]. Crashes and death happens every day on the motorway, it's not unusual and not really note worthy which is why the BBC et al decide not to bother reporting on it. Trains nearly crashing is unusual.
It's not biased reporting.
You must also remember, reporters aren't experts in anything but reporting. It's not their fault they don't know exactly how trains and the railway works.
I know exactly why things are reported, what I object to is sensationalism, knee jerk reactions and in particular not putting things into context. All facts are meaningless without context. This is why so many people have issues with the media, because it's 'selective'. I'm more than capable of looking at the big picture, unfortunately the media doesn't report the big picture, it publishes 'slants' on stories, usually to generate the most interest. In fairness the BBC is better than most, but there is no such thing as 'unbiased' reporting.
As you alluded to with the awful cases of child abductions and murders, they are no more common than 50 years ago, but certain tabloids have people convinced there are a child murderer at every corner because it makes good copy. We are also being walked into a situation where Governments get too powerful because of scares about terrorists. The phrase 'the oxygen of publicity' absolutely holds true. No terrorist could do his/her job properly without the media. Yet the chances of being killed in terrorist attack, as awful as they are is tiny. I'd worry more about dodgy take-aways, falling off a ladder doing DIY or drinking too much.
So forgive me for making these perhaps rather obvious points, but they do need making to stop silly panics.
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