Good news
October 26, 2025 11:04 AM
For the rest of our lives, we’ll discuss what we were doing the day the planes hit the Twin Towers in Manhattan, and how we watched Thailand suffer through the after effects of the 2004 tsunami.
We’ll always remember the devastation the media makes us aware of, and it’s sometimes hard to remember that good things do happen. The world was reminded of this last week when the Chilean miners who were trapped for 69 days were finally rescued.
Every major news provider in the country made this event their major focus, and many drained their budgets to get to San Jose, but it was not in vain. Roughly one billion people watched at least part of the rescue, and it moved the world.
For once, we rallied around a group of people filled with hope instead of with anger. The story wasn’t about mass death or hunger or war. It was about the real-life miracle 33 men experienced in the face of extreme doubt and adversity.
The rescue, which lasted about 24 hours, broke live-streaming records with over five million people watching via the internet. The inauguration of the first black president of the United States garnered slightly fewer than four million viewers.
I was not particularly interested in watching this event live, since I knew I’d be able to read roughly 500 different articles about it the next day. However, when I flipped the TV to CNN last Wednesday morning, I went from disinterested to enthralled as soon as images of the Chilean celebrations appeared on my screen.
It was hard not to be emotionally affected by what was happening. Families were being reunited, lives were renewed, and a country was overjoyed. To see such strength and happiness coming from men who thought their lives were over was, well, beautiful.
Since the rescue, the media has begun to discuss the reasons why this particular case received so much global attention, and what it means for the prevention of future disasters. Miners have been descending into the earth and not returning for centuries, and they will continue to do so for years to come.
We could focus on the ignorance of the media when covering this event in terms of Chilean culture, or on the brand-placement the company who made the Phoenix that carried the miners to safety received.
But sometimes it’s nice to remain focused on what it really was, and that is an event that brought people together in celebration, and a welcome divergence from the turmoil the world usually seems to be in.