That's a thoughtful push from you, and I certainly agree that the sheer scale of the US means a huge number of local tragedies get buried in the national statis

That's a thoughtful push from you, and I certainly agree that the sheer scale of the US means a huge number of local tragedies get buried in the national statistics. I also agree that newsworthiness isn't just about raw numbers. Where we differ, though, is on why certain stories get the national spotlight. You're right that attacks involving knives or people with mental illness are common enough to be local news. So, what stories go national? A story goes national not because it's a statistical outlier, but because it's a perfect political vehicle. The Daniel Penny case wasn't statistically rare, but it became a national crisis because it was a flawless vehicle for the national debate about race, vigilante justice, and public safety. It fit the dominant media's narrative template perfectly. The Iryna Zarutska case, however, was politically toxic for that same dominant national media, so it was initially downplayed. She was a refugee fleeing war for safety who was randomly killed on U.S. public transit. That narrative has a strong international hook that should have made it national news instantly, but the political optics (Black assailant, white refugee victim, raising questions about unchecked urban violence) meant national outlets made a visible choice to leave it local. The problem isn't that she didn't get enough coverage, but that this hesitation felt like the media running political interference. When people see the media instantly mobilise for the Penny story but drag their feet on the Zarutska story, that perceived selective outrage is the root cause of the media mistrust we were talking about from the beginning. It makes people feel the press is choosing sides, not choosing news. I'm not sure why she got more air-time than the latest school shooting; that would be in line with talking points regarding gun control and has a visceral response in people because it's children being targeted.