Make no mistake: corporations and bean counters have invaded local mainstream media like termites in a wooden house. The result has been a slow-motion disaster, especially for investigative reporting. Instead of hard news, we get endless fluff, chirpy banter, and the kind of “breaking story” that turns out to be a weather tease and a celebrity haircut. So what are reporters doing?  They’re walking.They’re quitting. They’re realizing they don’t need a corporate leash to do journalism.  They can launch a podcast, a vlog, a blog, and suddenly the editorial direction belongs to them, not some executive in a glass tower who thinks “investigative reporting” means a feel-good piece about a rescue dog. The audience? They’re not sitting there hypnotized by the 6 o’clock news anymore. People watch TV with an iPad in their lap, a phone in their hand, and a laptop open. Television news is background noise. The only things still reliably grabbing attention are severe weather, spo...