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Tyler Stanger, who was flying with New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle when they crashed on Thursday, was a member of the Church and a former Mormon missionary. According to this news report, he was married with a baby on the way, and he was loved and highly respected by everyone who knew him.
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it's understandable if the person's being mormon is an important part of the story, but when it's completely irrelevant... why the big deal? is this story any less/more tragic if he was a baptist? i know this is for lds-related news/posts, but honestly, who really cares. how did stanger's death make his mormonism news worthy?
That is the very question that makes it interesting to me. When I see a story and it alludes to the fact that a person is Mormon, I become curious about why the reported decided to include this fact.
If you don't feel that close bond with members of your Church (whether you're Mormon or not), I can see why you don't understand "the mormon obsession." I suppose it's like being part of an extended family. If your uncle did something newsworthy, you'd probably be interested in knowing about it even if your familial relationship to him had nothing to do with what he did.
You asked how Stanger's death made his Mormonism newsworthy. You're right that his membership in the Church had nothing to do with his death, but it was newsworthy to me because some people like myself found it interesting to know for the reasons mentioned above.
I believe some other members of the Church feel the same way. I suppose that's why there are websites listing famous Mormons like http://famousmormons.net/.