I was watching the local news the other day about an arrest in murder that happened 13 years ago. I like these stories as I'm curious as to what the big break was that linked the murderer to his victim. (In this case it was a scuff of paint on the victim's boot matched the paint of a suspect's car.) This news report (sorry no link to story available) included an interview the former victim's wife. It identified her as Jennifer Ruff -- the victim's widow. I then flipped to a different news channel where they ran their take on the same story. I decided to watch this broadcast simply to see if they had any new information that the first station didn't. Everything in this broadcast was pretty much the same as the first. Same background on the murder, same quotes by the same police officers, and the same mug shot of the suspect. The only thing that was different was the way the portrayed the victim's former wife. She was identified by her new married name, Jennifer Campbell (some media referred to her as Jennifer Ruff-Campbell), and mentioned that she had remarried, and had other children through her new marriage.
And though not a pivotal part of the story, I wondered why the first newscast hadn't chosen to mention the fact that the victim's former wife had remarried or even identified her by her new name. I can't really think of a reason unless the reporter was really sloppy or the station was trying build up the sympathetic image of a widow who for over 13 years had been wondering who killed her husband.
It's a small thing (something only I would have noticed) but something I can't get out my head. And I can't come up with a good reason they'd leave it out.