[cardinal4]

None of these events would have been national stories 5 years ago.

I agree with that, too. But my meaning is a little different, are all of these news items happening with more frequency? Or do we just pay more attention to the news now? Still, all of the deaths and injuries from the these stories, regardless who is at fault, is a little unsettling.

[HairOfTheDog]

The national media now rushes to the scene of every fire, every car chase, every adbuction, every murder of a pretty person. If you are unsettled, it is because it is unhealthy for us to zoom into every heartbreak in the country as if it were all happening to us.