I could totally be wrong about this, but my impression is part of the reason terrorist attacks in the Middle East are less visible in American media is they don't fit the narrative of the rest of the news. Classically there are supposed to be two native groups in the Middle East: Terrorists with a political agenda and unworldly innocents who just want to raise their olives and apricots. The terrorists are supposed to be rising up against the worldly and technologically advanced West, so it doesn't make sense for them to be blowing up the cafe on the other side of town.
I'd rather say that it's about the relevance of the conflict to local readers. Middle Eastern terrorists harming some westerners (no matter if it happens in the west or to some tourists there) matter because it's part of an "their tribe vs our tribe" conflict; Middle Eastern terrorists harming a lot of locals does not matter as much to the local reader because it doesn't involve "our tribe" at all, it's just their own internal affair or civil war or even genocide.
News is not about reporting what happens, it's about reporting what's relevant - the events that can or will influence us in some way, so whether something is newsworthy depends on the audience. A limited conflict that affects the gas price is more relevant to local readers than a deadly conflict with little international influence.
Now, this might already seem dramatic, and then you start thinking about the tragedies that are not even brought to justice, like many abuse cases, rapes, or not ever solved, like people kidnapped for human trafficking, disappearances and unsolved murders, etc. It's not just national headlines. Many times it's our own communities, our own family. Maybe it's not deaths, maybe it's just tragedies. Maybe they are not disasters, maybe they are crimes, mental disorders, etc. (not trying to disagree with your comment, just sharing some thoughts)
How many people die in the Middle East from a terrorist before it makes news? Same goes for a shooting in USA.
How many get shot before it makes national headlines.