If someone feels strongly enough about an issue to give his or her life to advance it, I'm not going to contradict that sentiment. On the scale of things, the media exaggerates far worse things (e.g. they'd have you believe that violent crime in the USA hasn't been dropping precipitously over the last two decades). Also, giving one's life for a cause is a much more ethical action than taking others' lives for that reason, but it seems quite a bit rarer.

(I know that Swartz is said to have suffered from depression which could be considered another factor in his suicide, but I'm specifically addressing this point which is unrelated to mental illness.)