Six coal miners are currently trapped in a collapsed mine in Utah. The mine owner claims that an earthquake caused the collapse, although seismic experts are unsure, and some evidence suggests that the mine practiced risky “retreat mining.” It is not known if the men are dead or alive, but rescue effort are expected to drag on for at least a week…
Which is plenty of time to drum up public fascination for this latest gritty life-or-death mining saga! Nothing sells newspapers like a mining community exhibiting stoic grief and tearful frustration over the uncertain fate of their men trapped in a mine.
Reporters are flocking to the backwater town to drill into the veritable gold-mine of humble rustic folk, with their “somber expressions and the look in their eyes as they politely shake their heads, declining to answer any questions about what they feel or if they might know any of the six who earn their salaries working underground”. As an added bonus, there’s the dramatic and talkative mining company CEO, who gives impassioned soundbites like “we’re using every means known to mankind” and “I will not leave this mine until those men are rescued, dead or alive.”
Will it end in tragedy? Will it end in miraculous survival? Either way, for the media, it’s win-win!
