Because editing a small town probably weekly paper with only a couple of employees is closer to be the editor of a university paper (in Perry's opinion). Neither is anywhere near the same 'experience' as a three time Kerth Award winning journalist with years of global investigative work under her belt vs. someone who discovered that the mayor of a small town wasn't paying his sales taxes properly for his business. In Perry's opinion (like Lois's), you cannot compare corn to apricots.
Crime does happen here in Kansas and surrounding states. It isn't limited to large cities or the coastal states. The papers, weekly or daily are not filled with farm reports, corn fests and shucking contests despite what Hollywood and national media would have you believe. Back in the 90s in my small town there were two disappearances that were never solved, and BTK was biding his time not that far from here. We might not make the national news every day but this is far from perfect as far as crime goes. With Perry's long career he would know this. He had to start somewhere, too.
And local papers are printed and put together by publishers with many more than two employees. The staff has to be up on all the news from small towns spread over more than one county. They are responsible for putting together publications for half a dozen or more individual towns each week.
I wish it was an idyllic paradise here, but it isn't.
