Opinion: As AI Replaces Local Journalists, Communities Risk Losing Their Voice

By Menda Eulenfeld

BISHOP, TEXAS - The recent announcement by E.W. Scripps to lay off roughly 200 employees across its local television division should concern anyone who values local journalism. Here in the Coastal Bend, KRIS 6, a Scripps-owned station, confirmed it was reducing staff as the company shifts toward investing more in AI automation and an AI-powered newsroom model.

As someone who was laid off from a local newspaper after the previous owners sold the company, I know what it's like to lose a job because a corporation decides profits matter more than people. Sometimes you're let go because you're one of the highest-paid employees. Sometimes it's because you ask too many questions or aren't afraid to expose corruption. And sometimes it's simply because the new owners want the books to look better.

But here's the problem.

When companies start cutting local journalists from the communities they serve, they aren't just eliminating jobs, they're eliminating local knowledge. They're eliminating the reporters who know the people, understand the history, and recognize when something doesn't add up.

Instead, you'll get one centralized newsroom covering multiple markets with the same story pushed out to everyone. It won't be tailored to Kingsville, Alice, Bishop, or Corpus Christi. It'll be the same general coverage with very little understanding of what matters in each community.

Yes, news organizations need to make money. Journalists deserve a paycheck, and stations have bills to pay. The reality is that advertising dollars aren't what they used to be. Local businesses that once supported newspapers and television stations are spending their marketing budgets elsewhere, and that's putting pressure on newsrooms across the country.

I understand the financial side.

What I don't understand is why we've accepted that local journalism is expendable.

There was a time when television stations were expected to provide meaningful local coverage as part of serving the public. Today, as more companies move toward centralized operations and AI-generated content, that standard seems to be disappearing.

I still work in local journalism while holding a full-time job outside of news because I believe our communities deserve independent reporting. It's not easy. There are long nights, weekends, and plenty of sacrifices.

But no amount of artificial intelligence can replace a reporter sitting through a four-hour city council meeting, building relationships with sources, or asking the difficult questions that no press release will answer.

AI can rewrite stories. It can summarize meetings. It can generate headlines.

It cannot replace accountability.

The bigger issue may actually be with us, the community members and businesses.

Do we really want competition in local media? Do we want multiple voices covering our communities? Or are we comfortable with one corporate voice deciding what news is important while someone hundreds of miles away determines what we should see?

If people truly want independent local news, they have to support it.

Support doesn't always mean buying a newspaper. It means sponsoring local news outlets. It means advertising with independent media. It means sharing locally produced stories and videos instead of scrolling past them. It means investing in the people who are investing their time in covering your community.

Otherwise, what we're seeing happen at Scripps won't stop there.

If large media companies are cutting local journalists, imagine the challenges facing small independent news organizations.

The question every community should ask is simple.                                                

Do you want local news, local sports, coverage of your children's accomplishments, and someone watching your local government? Or are you satisfied hearing whatever makes the regional or national news from somewhere outside the Coastal Bend?

Because once local journalism disappears, there's no guarantee it will ever come back.

If we don't support it now, we may one day realize that the watchdogs are gone and by then, it will be too late.