We need to think all the time about what we are doing with that privilege. Modern news is driven by the portability of satellite technology. We have come a long way from footage I saw recently of an NTSB press conference at O'Hare Airport a few days following the crash of American Airlines flight 191 in May 1979 - still the deadliest crash in U.S. history. There probably were 3 or 4 cameras and no more than 15 reporters there. Today, you can multiply that by a factor of 10.
Airline crashes are always big news because they are such rare events.
You heard earlier today about the relative risks of airline crashes to other facets of our lives. But logic does not necessarily always carry the day. Second, you have the obvious human drama, with interviews of survivors or family members of the victims. Third, you have the mystery. Everyone connected with such a tragedy faces challenges on dealing with the post-crash environment.