I think that in a way the internet does bring out confrontational banter and seemingly unnecessary objections to every minutia, but part of it is that posts on forums are read by factors of a hundred times more than normal conversations.
In any typical conversation with a few people, many wouldn't blink an eye to something minorly insensitive, but the likelihood of striking a nerve is exponentially higher on a forum where hundreds could be scrutinizing the conversation. This leads to devolving and others joining in etc.
Also I think the amount of media coverage isn't just because it was a dire rescue scenario. It was a dire rescue scenario that didn't have a clear cut method of rescue. Every angle was dangerous, time was critical, and multiple specialties had to be consulted to try to come up with a solution. Not just a helicopter mission.
It reminds me of that book The Martian and one of the last quotes:
"a hiker gets lost in the mountains, people will coordinate a search. If a train crashes, people will line up to give blood. If an earthquake levels a city, people all over the world will send emergency supplies. This is so fundamentally human that it's found in every culture without exception. Yes, there are assholes who just don't care, but they're massively outnumbered by the people who do."