Local News as told by Bushy Mustaches

Philadelphia news was hilarious through the 1970s and 1980s, especially if you lived where I did, between the Philly market (largely ignored) and the New York market (where many locals commuted to for its high salaries).
First of all was (were?) the mustaches, and the cheap sets. And the yellow blazers. It sounds like something out of that Will Ferrell movie, but it was true. Action News. Cue the sound.
This was during the period in which Philly lost a quarter of it's population, and Frank Rizzo was mayor. Rizzo basically had one commandment: keep the (Italian word for black) in line. Nonetheless the city kept losing it's manufacturing jobs (it was "the workshop of the world").
New York liberals at the same time decided that it was a racist society that accounted for black underclass crime. As a result of their heartfelt understanding, they got mugged numerous times and privatized their schools, transportation, and housing.
The local TV stations were the networks' flagship stations: WCBS. WNBC, and WABC. The anchormen seemed sophisticated and worldly. Crime was, in retrospect, played down, leaving the subject open for the Daily News and the Post.
A confession. I love the NY Post. It is truly local, and as a former reporter, totally biased. The first thing they teach you in journalism classes is the danger of editorializing. This means putting your opinion into a piece. The Post does this routinely, calling various accused people "scum," "pervert", "dirtbag" and other insults. This would be really fun writing.
My favorite section of the Post is the Police Blotter. It tells you what crimes have taken place in various far-flung areas of the city. Often there is videotape footage attached.
If not, there are suspect's names. Since you can't identify the race of a suspect in your article, unless it is relevant (check out the AP stylebook) to the attack, you get to guess the race by the accused names.
This is a piece of cake with Latinos, who all seem to be named Jesus and have the last name Martinez. With blacks, black parents have now decided to give their children names that are obviously black, which is good. Except if you get arrested, in which case readers can easily identify your race by their strangely Africanized names (Ju-won this, Latrelle that, D-Shawn, Shaquille O'Neal). Don't get me wrong. This is a terrible developement, but if the papers don't identify the race of an assailant, then TV news will take over with their artist sketchists (yes I know it's misspelled).
Face the music, America. You're only as multi-culti as to the degree that you include American blacks. No matter how many people of another race prosper here, the country's original sin of slavery has not been wiped out. Keep trying.