Some time ago I stopped watching TV news because it was a predictable recipe for every broadcast:
Disasters first, then murders, then fatal road accidents, then any story for which there was footage available of cleavage or thigh, and only then, if there was time left, whatever news was actually significant.
I don't know if it's a culture of death though, I think it's just a tabloid culture which has been numbed by sensory overload.