Last week at NAB Show New York, new data was unveiled that shows an overwhelming majority of Americans are concerned about how artificial intelligence and Big Tech dominance are threatening the survival of local journalism. The national survey released alongside a panel on “The Future of News: AI, New Revenues and Risks, and the Policy Response” found three‑quarters of Americans are concerned about AI stealing or reproducing local news stories. An overwhelming 77% support Congress passing a law that would make it illegal for AI to steal or reproduce journalism and local news stories that are published online without permission or compensation.

These concerns come at a moment when trusted journalism is more vital than ever. The survey results show only 26% trust information produced by AI, while 68% say it is not trustworthy. Local broadcasters provide fact-based news, emergency alerts and community connection. But they do so under regulations written before the rise of streaming, social media and AI. That outdated framework leaves stations unable to invest, grow or compete on equal footing with global tech platforms that profit from broadcasters’ content without producing any of their own.

As Hearst Television Executive Vice President and NAB Television Board Chair Nick Radziul said during the panel discussion, “Big tech is so outsized and so disproportionately large their influence and actions as gatekeepers to the content we all produce that if Congress doesn’t step in, I’m not sure there is a solution in any other way that comes in time to, frankly, save local news producers.”

Americans agree. According to the survey results, 72% believe the federal government should place guardrails on AI to protect consumers.

The public is clear in their desire for trustworthy news and AI oversight. Americans want local journalism to survive. Policymakers must work to ensure the proliferation of AI doesn’t come at a cost of the local broadcast news Americans trust most.