--- title: "An Entire “Local Newspaper” Just Shut Down When All Its Reporters Were Busted as AI Fakes" description: "The staff of an \"independent, locally owned\" South Florida news site was entirely faked with AI, a team real journalists revealed." date: "2026-05-18" modified: "2026-05-18" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/local-newspaper-shut-down-reporters-ai-fakes" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" --- # An Entire “Local Newspaper” Just Shut Down When All Its Reporters Were Busted as AI Fakes ![A crumpled piece of newspaper with visible text in French, set against a bright lime green background with a subtle orange glow around the paper.]() *Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Getty Images* Ever stumble across an online "news article" that just doesn't feel quite right? You may be onto something. A joint [investigation by *The Florida Trib*]() and the *KCRW* podcast *Question Everything* found that a so-called "independent, locally owned digital news publication" dubbed the *[South Florida Standard]()* was in reality an AI-generated Potemkin village staffed entirely by fake writers. The writers had AI-generated profile pictures and made-up biographies to match their beats — a practice that's become a [hallmark sign]() of [AI-fabricated]() "journalists" — and churned out an extraordinary amount of content, much of which turned out to be [plagiarized]() from other outlets. After the *Trib* revealed that all of the alleged journalists staffing the site were fake, the whole operation shut down. "Clearly, whoever's behind this does not care about the truth," The Poynter Institute's Kelly McBride told the *Trib*, adding that the "only way to address it is to try and find somebody who actually controls the keys to this website." That's exactly what the *Trib* did. With the help of University of South Florida journalism professor Casey Frechette, the real reporters traced the *South Florida Standard* to more news sites in South Carolina and California — titled the *Charleston Sentinel* and the *San Francisco Download*, respectively — and, finally, connected them all to a Philadelphia-based guy named Drew Chapin, who runs an image management firm called The Discoverability Company. On the Discoverability Company's [website](), Chapin describes himself as a "digital fixer for people and businesses who need the internet to tell a better story about them." At first, reached with a list of questions, an unnamed administrator for the *South Florida Standard* dismissed any connection between the site and Chapin, telling reporters that the faux local news publisher was being developed "with the intent of building search engine authority and selling to a domain investor who may use it to develop a news property or newsletter or similar digital property." In other words: according to this unnamed entity, they were juicing up a locally-targeted web domain with AI content in order to later flip it. But after some dogged reporting by the investigative team, Chapin finally admitted to journalists that he was indeed the owner of the *South Florida Standard* — and 17 similar AI-powered properties in total. According to him, all it took was a $10 domain name and some limited AI tooling, and he could spit out a fake news site in under 20 minutes. Bleak. Pink slime sites are nothing new, but as Chapin sadly demonstrated, they're easier and cheaper than ever for people who don't care about facts — or are actively trying to manipulate them — to whip up. Next time you click on a local news piece, make sure you're getting it from someone like the journalists at the *Trib —* and not from the fabricated non-entities like the *South Florida Standard.* *Do you know of a site using AI to generate fake news? Send us a tip: [tips@futurism.com](). We can keep you anonymous.* **More on AI and journalism:** *[New York Times Issues Stern Warning to Its Freelance Writers About AI Use]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()