Are there more tragedies these days or more media coverage?

Definitely media coverage.

Probably more media coverage. Pure evil has always existed in the world, we just see more of it on a daily basis.

Unfortunately, feel good stories about generous and selfless people don't sell or get clicks.

Probably both. The world population has been increasing, so just from a numbers standpoint there are probably more human tragedies happening. But there is also more news coverage that is easily digestible to more people.

Violent crime as a whole has dropped SIGNIFICANTLY since the 80's and it's peak in the early/mid 90's. It just SEEMS like things are "more violent" today simply because we are more connected and have more media available to us than ever before. Even just 25-30 years ago a major violent crime episode could happen and most people on the other side of the country would never know about it. With today's abundance of social media people thousands of miles away will find out about the episode within hours, if not minutes of it occurring. Couple that with the media's unrelenting desire to cover and dramatize the "bad" while ignoring the "good" and perception doesn't equal reality.

Many in the media want you to think we are living in the most dangerous times in US history. That's because such stories generate clicks/interest. When, in fact, we are arguably living in the safest period in the US in nearly (maybe over) half a century.

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more media coverage

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And more people wanting their 15 minutes of fame

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Violent crime

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There are many human tragedies that don't fall under the violent crime umbrella.

Mass, indiscriminate shootings have definitely increased a system media coverage increases. It's about achieving notoriety

The definition of what is considered a tragedy has also changed.

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Dad's got his head in the sand. When Dad was young there were no Columbine's to cover. In Dad's day it was open season on Presidents and presidential candidates and they covered the shite out of it.

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I definitely think that mental health in this country has taken a scary turn. The country seemed to be a much more stable place in the 80’s.

So here is the difference. A child wonders off into the wilderness in Idaho in 1979. I never hear about it in Louisiana unless the kid is a Louisiana kid on vacation. In 2019 it’s got 24 hour coverage for 2 days. A mud slide in Equatorial Guinea buries a village of 150 people, tragic but I only hear about it in 1979 if I’m reading a National Geographic 6 months later, maybe. In 2019 it’s on every news outlet plus the weather channel and they’re talking about it on the floor of the House of Representatives.

And that’s not even accounting for the countless digital media outlets that are primarily agenda driven and sensationalize every darn thing.

Perception via the 24 hour news cycle trumps reality nowadays.