I find it interesting the power the local news has - it's much more than what most would think. Local news inherently brings the idea of 'small time' news and not anything of great importance. The majority of a news hour consists of generally benign stories and are often creating and seek out stories out of thin air (depending on which city you may live in).
However, the approach and the context that local news is has is greatly contrasting to the murder stories or very serious incidents. When these awful and serious events take place the news must report them - these are what reporters live for. But all too often the delivery hardly changes. Starting a segment off with the breaking news of a murder on the east side might have a very serious and forward delivery (tone), but then because other 'new' took place, they easily with a smile move into the next news story of a much lighter tone. This stacking of serious and grave news stories along with light hearted "fluff" pieces, creates a strange and eerie world view. Enough of the negative and audiences get a very narrow and specifically reinforced point of view but combining the fluff with the serious doesn't provide justice to the tonality of proper news.
Such events such as the tragedy of Matthew Shepard only fuel this strange machine. The duality and inherent nature of local news creates a strange lens to create a worldview through.
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