"Popular Teen Injured in Car Accident; Less Popular Teens Also Involved"

Obligatory disclaimer that this is a very sad story, I can't imagine how terrible the family must feel, my heart goes out to them, etc.

Clicked on a story in a news aggregator about a ten-year-old boy dying from the flu.  The lede? "A popular New Canaan 10-year-old is the first child in Connecticut to die of flu-related illness this season."

Whoa.  "Popular?"  What does his popularity have to do with the story?  Are we more devastated because he was popular than if he had been less so?  Are we to judge the extent of the tragedy by how many other children liked him?  If so, would the death of a less popular child be easier to take?  Would the journalist describe that child as lonely, friendless, or socially awkward in the first sentence?

It's like one of those awful glossy puff pieces on Important People which feel the need to describe what the interviewees are wearing, or the ice-blueness of their eyes, or the delicacy and/or strength of their hands as they gesture, and the reader is left wondering what on earth their physical appearance has to do with their success as a business tycoon or director or politician.  It's like they're trying to combine Human Interest with Hard News and doing it very badly.