Why were we so riveted by the Thai cave rescue?
Now that the entire Thai soccer team has been rescued from the cave, it’s interesting to think about how and why their story has fascinated the entire world:
For one thing, by 2018 standards, it’s been a bit of a slow burn story — spread out over a couple of weeks, the rescue effort provided a steady stream of developments that lined up nicely in a Hollywood-style narrative. Plus, you have clear protagonists (the former monk-turned coach, the kids), a villain who’s fun to ridicule (Elon Musk wyd?? <- an eternal question), and high stakes that are easy to understand.
Finally, there’s just a near universal sense of intrigue. Brave, selfless divers! Underwater twists and turns! Unpredictable, deadly weather! Kudos to all the outlets who got their graphics team on this — these two graphics went viral on Twitter and were terribly more fascinating than reading text. Oh, and everyone got to bust out their push notification strategy and fancy live updates format (or, if you’re Vox, their “storystream”), so you know the editors are happy.
What riveted you most about the story? And who do you think covered it the best?
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