Like all good memes, Dodson quickly became a product line.[twitter
Ah, the local news. As mainstream, national journalism gives way to the power of the internet and the blogosphere, it seems as though local media is the only traditional avenue that maintains some form of relevancy. After all, local media know their audience, stories, and needs in a way that a national media outlet is simply unable to provide.
Granted, there are numerous professionals working in television and print in newsrooms across the country who are consummate professionals. Every now and then, though, you have a Chris Allen fondling a breast cancer graphic on camera. Media professionals make bad decisions all the time. Even after serving as the Dean of the White House Press Corps, Helen Thomas found herself forcibly retired after inflammatory comments.
Thanks to the internet, a highly local story can become global internet fodder in a matter of hours. Take the story of Antoine Dodson, the latest example of a local news story gone viral. When an intruder allegedly broke into his sister’s apartment and attempted to sexually assault her, Antoine helped scare off the attacker. A story such as this meets the “smell test” for local news: it’s timely, it’s interesting, and there’s a human angle.
Here’s the problem.
