Macaskill I don't think the general public care too much about possible Pilot fatigue as aircraft are not dropping out of the sky because of it!
In this 24 hour world I have no doubt life expectancy is reduced by the level of fatigue over 35 years of time zone changes ,night flights ,radiation etc etc but it is not really a newsworthy thing IMHO. The Employers always say it is just lazy Pilots,or they say we will do what we are complaining about if we get paid more for doing it.
Every few years this question of fatigue crops up and over the past 35 years I have been in this business a lot is talked about it but commercial interests always gain the upper hand .