# News stories that didn't get as much coverage due to another news event. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 27, 2007, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-stories-that-didnt-get-as-much-coverage-due-to-another-news-event/417141 "2007-08-27T20:14:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Captain\_Socks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a8b319/32.png) [@Captain\_Socks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Socks)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-stories-that-didnt-get-as-much-coverage-due-to-another-news-event/417141/1 "2007-08-27T20:14:49Z")
Inspired by [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=434277). My pick would be the death of Mother Teresa. She probably would have gotten a lot of coverage when she died. But she died just around the height of the mourning for Princess Diana. So she didn’t get as much news coverage. Are there any more stories like that? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-stories-that-didnt-get-as-much-coverage-due-to-another-news-event/417141/2 "2007-08-27T20:19:23Z")
Often cited in this context is the airliner which crashed in Queens, a borough of New York City, mere weeks after Sept. 11, 2001. It was on its way to (or was it coming from?) Santo Domingo. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-stories-that-didnt-get-as-much-coverage-due-to-another-news-event/417141/3 "2007-08-27T20:21:32Z")
In the 1984 Olympics, when Joan Benoit won the first ever Women’s Marathon event, you had to be watching live if you wanted to see her triumphant entrance into the Coliseum, with the home crowd cheering her on. Because after that, ALL you ever saw was the second place winner (I think), from Switzerland, who struggled to do her final lap while barely being able to remain on her feet. I never once saw the footage of Joan Benoit again. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-stories-that-didnt-get-as-much-coverage-due-to-another-news-event/417141/4 "2007-08-27T20:25:18Z")
New York City mayoral primary on 11 September, 2001. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-stories-that-didnt-get-as-much-coverage-due-to-another-news-event/417141/5 "2007-08-27T20:31:09Z")
C. S. Lewis died at the same time that JFK did, so no one paid any attention. How’s that? ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-stories-that-didnt-get-as-much-coverage-due-to-another-news-event/417141/6 "2007-08-27T20:34:29Z")
[QUOTE=dangermom] C. S. Lewis died at the same time that JFK did, so no one paid any attention. How’s that? [/QUOTE] Aldous Huxley died that day too. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-stories-that-didnt-get-as-much-coverage-due-to-another-news-event/417141/7 "2007-08-27T20:42:12Z")
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus] In the 1984 Olympics, when Joan Benoit won the first ever Women’s Marathon event, you had to be watching live if you wanted to see her triumphant entrance into the Coliseum, with the home crowd cheering her on. Because after that, ALL you ever saw was the second place winner (I think), from Switzerland, who struggled to do her final lap while barely being able to remain on her feet. I never once saw the footage of Joan Benoit again. [/QUOTE] Grete Waitz, the second place finisher, was Norwegian, and finished strongly. Swiss Gabrielle Andersen-Scheiss finished 37th. > [@](#): > > The most dramatic finish of the race was not Benoit’s impressive victory, but the finish of Swiss competitor Gabriele Andersen-Scheiss, who entered the stadium fifteen minutes later suffering from heat exhaustion. The crowd gasped in horror as Andersen-Scheiss staggered onto the track, her torso twisted, her right arm straight and her left arm limp, her right knee strangely stiff. She waved away medical personnel who rushed to help her knowing that, if they touched her, she, like Dorando Pietri seventy-six years earlier, would be disqualified. For nearly six minutes Andersen-Scheiss hobbled around the track, occasionally stopping and holding her head. Doctors watched her carefully and determined she was in no immediate danger. She collapsed over the finish line in thirty-seventh place into the arms of waiting medics. Fortunately, Andersen-Scheiss recovered quickly. Her time of 2:48:45 would have won the gold medal in the first five Olympic marathons. [Link.](http://www.marathonguide.com/history/olympicmarathons/chapter26.cfm) ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-stories-that-didnt-get-as-much-coverage-due-to-another-news-event/417141/8 "2007-08-27T20:44:07Z")
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus] In the 1984 Olympics, when Joan Benoit won the first ever Women’s Marathon event, you had to be watching live if you wanted to see her triumphant entrance into the Coliseum, with the home crowd cheering her on. Because after that, ALL you ever saw was the second place winner (I think), from Switzerland, who struggled to do her final lap while barely being able to remain on her feet. [/QUOTE] [Gabriele Andersen-Schiess](http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.php?ID=365&var_Year=2004&var_Month=08&var_Day=18) finished 37th in the race, which was completed by 44 of the 50 entrants. When this topic comes up, I always think of the deaths of C.S. Lewis and Aldous Huxley. Both writers’ obituaries were buried (if they appeared at all) deep inside the newspapers of November 23, 1963, which were almost exclusively devoted (at least in the USA) to the death of President John F. Kennedy. Years after their deaths, both Lewis and Huxley (or, to be precise, their estates) continued to receive speaking invitations, among other correspondence, from people who assumed them to still be alive. On preview, I see that **dangermom** and **Struan** scooped me. Forty-four years later, Clive and Aldous are finally getting due recognition… Edited to add: And I see **Contrapuntal** beat me to the Andersen-Schiess clarification. Oh well, at least I posted a different link – both articles are worth reading for their particular takes on the event. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-stories-that-didnt-get-as-much-coverage-due-to-another-news-event/417141/9 "2007-08-27T20:50:29Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] New York City mayoral primary on 11 September, 2001. [/QUOTE] It was postponed so it didn’t need much coverage. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-stories-that-didnt-get-as-much-coverage-due-to-another-news-event/417141/10 "2007-08-27T20:59:39Z")
[QUOTE=JKellyMap] Often cited in this context is the airliner which crashed in Queens, a borough of New York City, mere weeks after Sept. 11, 2001. It was on its way to (or was it coming from?) Santo Domingo. [/QUOTE] This happened [November 12, 2001](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_587). It was going to Santa Domingo and it got a lot of news coverage in these parts. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-stories-that-didnt-get-as-much-coverage-due-to-another-news-event/417141/11 "2007-08-27T21:01:47Z")
I’m sure I’ll get slammed for this, but - Britney Spears’s now seemingly-perpetual meltdown getting coverage over the Iraq war. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-stories-that-didnt-get-as-much-coverage-due-to-another-news-event/417141/12 "2007-08-27T21:04:31Z")
Sammy Davis’s anticipated death was overshadowed by Jim Henson’s. Ditto Johnny Cash and John Ritter. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-stories-that-didnt-get-as-much-coverage-due-to-another-news-event/417141/13 "2007-08-27T21:04:33Z")
The deadliest fire in U.S. history was the Peshtigo Fire in Wisconsin. It burned over 1,800 square miles of land, burned down 12 towns, and left somewhere between 1,200 and 2,500 dead. Nobody ever hears about it because it just happened to occur on October 8th, 1871, the exact same day as the Great Chicago Fire. Which in comparisson burned down 4 square miles and killed a few hundred people. ---
**Author:** ![Baine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Baine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baine)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-stories-that-didnt-get-as-much-coverage-due-to-another-news-event/417141/14 "2007-08-27T21:51:26Z")
Harriet Quimby was the first woman to fly across the English Channel, on the day after the Titanic sank. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-stories-that-didnt-get-as-much-coverage-due-to-another-news-event/417141/15 "2007-08-27T21:53:37Z")
Wasn’t there a mass shooting on September 10 2001? I recall seeing something on CNN about it but by the following day it had ceased to be news. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-stories-that-didnt-get-as-much-coverage-due-to-another-news-event/417141/16 "2007-08-27T22:38:41Z")
Ted Kennedy might have caught more immediate grief for the incident at Chappaquiddick had it not been relegated to back pages by the moon landing. ---
**Author:** ![D-bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@D-bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D-bear)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-stories-that-didnt-get-as-much-coverage-due-to-another-news-event/417141/17 "2007-08-28T07:09:39Z")
Well Chandra Levy plenty of coverage from May to August of 2001, but was quickly forgotten in Sepetmber… [QUOTE=Wikipedia] Suspicion was deepened when Condit refused to submit to a lie detector test to be administered by the Washington D.C. police, which they requested on July 10, 2001. Additionally, Condit tried to avoid answering direct questions during a televised interview with news anchor Connie Chung on August 23, 2001. [/QUOTE] > **[Killing of Chandra Levy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandra_Levy)** > > Chandra Ann Levy (April 14, 1977 – c. May 1, 2001) was an American intern at the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Washington, D.C., who disappeared in May 2001. She was presumed murdered after her skeletal remains were found in Rock Creek Park in May 2002. The case attracted attention from American news media for several years. Due to a miscommunication, the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPD) failed to follow its own search parameters in Rock Creek Park, causing them ... ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-stories-that-didnt-get-as-much-coverage-due-to-another-news-event/417141/18 "2007-08-28T07:59:53Z")
Part of downtown Montreal almost fell in on Friday, but the news wasn’t as big as it might have been because Quebec City’s flamboyant mayor Andrée Boucher unexpectedly died the same day. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-stories-that-didnt-get-as-much-coverage-due-to-another-news-event/417141/19 "2007-08-28T09:31:59Z")
[QUOTE=Cazzle] Wasn’t there a mass shooting on September 10 2001? I recall seeing something on CNN about it but by the following day it had ceased to be news. [/QUOTE] Don’t know anything about that, but the [Danny Almonte scandal](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Almonte) was big news during the first 10 days of September '01. Now nobody even remembers it. ---
**Author:** ![Dottygumdrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Dottygumdrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dottygumdrop)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-stories-that-didnt-get-as-much-coverage-due-to-another-news-event/417141/20 "2007-08-28T10:19:07Z")
[Gulf Air Flight 072](http://www.emergency.com/2000/GulfAir072.htm) crashed on 23 August 2000 (143 lives lost), but received very little coverage as the Air France Concorde had crashed only a couple of weeks before and the airwaves were full of talk about permanently grounding Concorde. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-stories-that-didnt-get-as-much-coverage-due-to-another-news-event/417141.md?page=2)