So Giovanni Castellucci, the former head of Italy’s motorway operator, just got slapped with a hefty 12-year sentence over that tragic 2018 bridge collapse. And while some might see this as justice served, let’s not kid ourselves: the real story here is how the corporate media spins it. Outlets like CNN might paint this as a victory for accountability, but they ignore the structural failures that led to this disaster. They want to push a narrative of singular blame while glossing over the systemic corruption that breeds these catastrophes.

On the flip side, Fox News seems to push sensationalism over substance. They might give a nod to Castellucci’s culpability, but watch how quickly they pivot to crowing about the “failed political apparatus” around him. Buried in all this rhetoric is the uncomfortable truth: the negligence of corporations and their cozy ties with governmental bodies. The headlines read “big fish falls,” but do we ever stop to ask why the pond is so toxic?

In this climate, both sides of the mainstream spectrum miss the bigger picture. They want a villain for their simplistic narratives, while the real story is the ongoing dance between incompetence and greed, which keeps happening because no one in power is truly held accountable. The only people losing sleep over this are the families still grappling with the aftermath of that collapse—not to mention the pressing question of infrastructure integrity that seems poised to repeat this cycle.