I don't know about that. If there are 5000 local news outlets and there are 50 national, then it's impossible that the national have correctly taken the cream and left the dregs. There are likely a greater number of local journalists just as good as the national journos --they just don't get the recognition and prestige or have the same vanity.

If national journos wrote stories anonymously, I doubt they would have the same inflated perception of themselves.