That's a good point. It seems that these five incidents would not have been reported in the 1980s, when most of the news came from ABC/CBS/NBC and CNN. For aviation to be newsworthy back then, it had to be something major, like a crash.
Back to the current situation, it seems that we are talking about increased access to information rather than increased safety hazards, correct?
It's a combination of increased access and the "social mediazation" of the mainstream media today. Forget about facts or reporting -- just get the big "BREAKING" news headline along with a few pictures and throw it out there -- that will get many more clicks than "United plane slips off runway" -- or "United plane had hydraulic leak and returned to Sydney"....