A right-wing media chain tried to replace 47 newspapers with AI. They all died

- A US media chain replaced journalists at 47 local newspapers with AI-generated content. All of those newspapers subsequently collapsed, becoming a high-profile cautionary tale. - The chain is conservative-leaning and part of a pattern where private equity and hedge funds buy struggling local papers, slash staff, and try automation to squeeze profits — often killing the papers in the process. - This is a key data point in the debate over AI in journalism: AI can rewrite press releases but cannot do original reporting (city council meetings, court hearings, interviews) that gives local papers their value. - Local US newspapers have been in steep decline for 20 years as ad revenue moved to Google and Facebook, leaving them vulnerable to cost-cutting owners who strip editorial resources.