The web site Asylum.com has put together some fun pie charts in an attempt to illustrate what sorts of stories — crime, human interest, politics, sports, etc. — are typically covered more or less often in different metropolitan areas. They categorized each story in the local evening news broadcasts of 10 U.S. cities during the week of Jan. 4-8, 2010, and then ‘created a “Misery Index,” which accounted for how depressing each category is, and the percentage of time each broadcast devoted to each category.’

Washington, D.C.’s local news broadcasts actually fared fairly well on the Misery Index. Note the relatively even distribution of stories on different topics, with a slight bent toward government and national security (duh). Our city tied with New York at number eight out of the ten, bested only by Cleveland, which spends most of its time worried about either sports or the weather.

At the top of the list were cities like Los Angeles and Boston, where newscasters focus a lot more heavily on crime and disconcerting health advisories. You know the ones. High speed chase endangers grandmas at rec center. Or, could your toaster end up killing your children?

Gotta say, the D.C. results kinda surprise me, but I surely spend a lot more time combing through local news crime reports than … well hopefully, anyone. But what do you guys think? Or do you even watch local TV news at all?