Same exact thing is happening with the economy:

The vast majority of those surveyed — 68% — said it was becoming harder for the average person to get ahead, while nearly half of respondents said their own finances were moving in the right direction.

We are cripplingly addicted to myopic sensationalism, and the death of local news means that as information consumers we’re increasingly hypnotized by national news corporations who have no roots or stake in local communities and who thrive on rage bait. Put simply, there’s no localized and tempered source of information that can balance out the neverending national panic.