Local news is not much better, and I have long not been a fan of it. The one and only purpose of local news is to earn money for the station. That means getting as many viewers as possible to sell advertising at as high a rate as possible. That in turn is not necessarily conducive to thorough, properly-prioritized, neutral reporting. The process is geared more toward presentation and cultivation of on-air personalities than being informative. To illustrate what I mean, someone I know made a very telling comment when weather broadcaster Paul Douglas left channel 11 in the mid-90's. She said, "He was my favorite character!"