Media hype?

I have always wondered why different media outlets talk about stories in different ways. One station might be hyping it up too much, then another station will downplay it as not being a big deal. I notice this when big snowstorms are suppose to hit the area, it will be one news stations top story, then another station you won't hear about it till later in the program. Is this just the fact that each media outlet is trying to be different from each other? I would like to hear feedback of what people think about this subject. I was thinking that the stations with lower ratings will try to hype stories more to try and draw the viewer in.