It's funny... the more we change the more we remain the same.

This type of human interest story used to be big on radioo during the Great Depression.... little kids trapped in wells, miners in cave-ins, etc. The networks would send a radio reporter who would broadcast live from the site. The radio audience often went nationwide until the story ended (when those trapped were freed or found dead).

Here we are, some seventy years later and we are still following the same dramas (albeit with much greater technology).