GETTYSBURG, Pa. — Now that special counsel Robert Mueller has concluded that no one from Trump’s presidential campaign “conspired or coordinated” with Russia, five residents of this Adams County town hope the national media moves on.

This has nothing to do with liking or voting for the president (they don’t and they didn’t) and everything to do with opinion news increasingly replacing straight news reporting.

Jim Henry, a fan of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” tuned into his favorite cable news program recently only to find the hosts still speculating about a Trump-Russia connection two days after the summary report was released. “They just harp on the same thing, and you would think there’s nothing else Trump’s done wrong,” said Henry, 73. “That’s the only thing they have on him? Come on, talk about the other stuff.”

Henry is kibitzing with his morning crew — friends Richard Sawyer, Philip Schindel, Roger Jewell and Jim Paddock — at two tables pushed together at the Ragged Edge coffee house in this Civil War battleground town. Sections of the New York Times and the Gettysburg Times are spread out on the table alongside a plate of muffins and several cups of coffee.

None of them had a problem with the special counsel probe, all are Democrats and all vehemently dislike the president — an unusual trait for people in this ruby-red county. But they do think the day-in-day-out speculation over Mueller’s findings wore the public down to the point of giving the president an advantage heading into the 2020 election.

“I don’t think we need to forget about Russia. And I think that needs to be reported one way or the other,” said Paddock, 76, who is a nearby township supervisor. “But because other big issues like health care and infrastructure aren’t being talked about, it gives him momentum.”

With their endless “Breaking News” segments, stories from unnamed sources and hosts who’ve blurred the line between punditry and reporting, many national news organizations have turned viewers off. MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, one of the premier Russia conspiracy theorists, saw a 20 percent ratings decline after Mueller issued his report.

Serious journalism wasn’t the problem but rather sensationalism, including articles written with authority by the former CIA director John Brennan, who asserted in The New York Times that Trump’s “claims of no collusion are hogwash” and that he “revoked my security clearance to try to silence anyone who would dare challenge him.”

“They overdid it,” said Sawyer, 75. “It was boom, boom, boom, boom, every day, all day. I turned the television off and stopped watching.” During the Mueller madness, he said he relied on the Gettysburg Times for news that kept him sane and balanced.

A Pew survey this week showed that a large majority of Americans believe their local news outlets are doing a good job reporting the news accurately (71 percent agreed) and dealing fairly with all sides (62 percent agreed). But attitudes toward national news organizations are quite different. A Pew survey last fall reported that a whopping two-thirds of Americans believe national outlets would try to cover up their mistakes — double the number of those who think they would admit to them.

Jeff Brauer, a political science professor at Keystone College, said the daily fixation on “what Mueller knows” blew up in commentators’ faces.

“The media made a critical mistake concerning the Mueller investigation coverage,” Brauer said.

“Their major sin was the wrong assumption that Mueller’s professional silence about the probe was an indication that he was holding all his cards close to his chest. In the end, it was the opposite. Mueller made all his moves openly during the investigation. When they found something, they simply indicted and prosecuted.

“When he was finished playing his last card, he wrapped up the probe and wrote the account. He did not keep a treasure trove of evidence and charges on Russian collusion from the public spotlight only to be released in a bombshell report.”

Brauer said this “what if” journalism needs to be reined in. “Most reporting should be based on what is actually happening, not what could be happening.”

Schindel, 76, worries a rising skepticism of the media only encourages Trump’s supporters to distrust yet another American institution in favor of the president.

At the same time, he acknowledges it’s hard for people like him who don’t like Trump “to move on from the story.” Schindel said he is genuinely disheartened over the future of the national news media.

But Henry, who voted for Bernie Sanders on his 2016 presidential ballot as a write-in, says his wife voted for Trump — giving him an inside track on what the media should do next.

“I am an expert here guys,” he said. “I say it is better for the news to move forward. Move forward.”