300 How Consultants Destroy Local News

There was a time when local newsrooms were among the most trusted institutions in American life. The anchors were neighbors, the reporters were familiar faces at school board meetings, city council hearings, and Friday night football games. Viewers and readers didn’t just consume the news; they felt a relationship with it. That trust did not vanish overnight, and it did not disappear because audiences suddenly stopped caring about facts. It eroded slowly, decision by decision, and one of the least discussed forces behind that erosion was the rise of outside consultants who promised salvation and delivered standardization.