What does this quote shows and what does it reflect? In the enormous radio

Irene stood for a minute before the hideous cabinet, disgraced and sickened, but she held her hand on the switch before she extinguished the music and the voices, hoping that the instrument might speak to her kindly, that she might hear the sweeneys'Nurse.jim continued to shout at her from the door. The voice on the radio was suave and noncommittal. "an early morning railroad disaster in tokyo" the loudspeaker said, killed twenty nine people. A Fire in a catholic hospital near buffalo for the care of blind children was extinguished early this morning by nuns.