Hacker News with Generative AI: Journalism

RFK Jr threatens ban on federal scientists publishing in top journals (theguardian.com)
Robert F Kennedy Jr has threatened to ban government scientists from publishing in the world’s leading medical journals, which he branded “corrupt”, and to instead create alternative publications run by the state.
Science, Politics, Publishing, Journalism, Censorship
40 points by bookofjoe 30 days ago | 24 comments
The Who Cares Era (dansinker.com)
Earlier this week, it was discovered that the Chicago Sun-Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer had both published an externally-produced "special supplement" that contained facts, experts, and book titles entirely made up by an AI chatbot.
Journalism, Artificial Intelligence, Fake News
739 points by NotInOurNames 30 days ago | 722 comments
An AI-generated summer reading list got published in major newspapers (npr.org)
Some newspapers around the country, including the Chicago Sun-Times and at least one edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer have published a syndicated summer book list that includes made-up books by famous authors.
Artificial Intelligence, Journalism, Books, Media
9 points by Michelangelo11 31 days ago | 1 comments
TeleMessage Explorer: a new open source research tool (micahflee.com)
I've spent the last week or two writing code to make sense of the massive hack of data from TeleMessage, the comically insecure company that makes a modified Signal app that Trump's former national security advisor Mike Waltz was caught using. I've decided to publish my code as open source in the hopes that other journalists will use it to find revelations in this dataset.
Open Source, Security, Data, Journalism
116 points by micahflee 32 days ago | 60 comments
Death of Michael Ledeen, maker of the phony case for the invasion of Iraq (spytalk.co)
Michael Ledeen, the controversial national security journalist, scholar and schemer who died at age 83 on May 17 from complications following a stroke, played a significant covert role leading up to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, as well as other productions of false intelligence for political ends.
Politics, Journalism, Intelligence, History, Iraq
93 points by nabla9 34 days ago | 119 comments
Two disinformation experts have launched a DIY news outlet (poynter.org)
Indicator, a digital outlet founded by fact-checking and digital investigation veterans Alexios Mantzarlis and Craig Silverman, aims to demystify the moment — and help readers investigate the things they see online themselves.
Disinformation, Journalism, Fact-Checking, Online Content
7 points by gnabgib 34 days ago | 0 comments
FBI Visits Me over Manifesto (kenklippenstein.com)
For the second time in a year, the FBI came to my home yesterday after I published the so-called manifesto of the man charged with killing two Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington.
FBI, Journalism, Politics, Manifesto, International Relations
17 points by pavel_lishin 34 days ago | 2 comments
Chicago Sun-Times Published an AI-Gen Summer Reading List Full of Fake Books (readtpa.com)
The Chicago Sun-Times just published a summer reading list with one major problem: most of the books don't exist.
Artificial Intelligence, News, Journalism, Books, Summer Reading
3 points by rmason 36 days ago | 1 comments
The Future of Newspapers Is Lies, I Guess (aphyr.com)
I subscribe to the Chicago Sun-Times, a non-profit newspaper. This week they sent me a sixty-four page special insert, branded with the Chicago Sun-Times logo, full of LLM nonsense.
Newspapers, Artificial Intelligence, Journalism, Generative AI
11 points by todsacerdoti 37 days ago | 1 comments
At Least Two Newspapers Syndicated AI Garbage (theatlantic.com)
At first glance, “Heat Index” appears as inoffensive as newspaper features get. A “summer guide” sprawling across more than 50 pages, the feature, which was syndicated over the past week in both the Chicago Sun-Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer, contains “303 Must-Dos, Must-Tastes, and Must-Tries” for the sweaty months ahead.
Artificial Intelligence, Journalism, Media, Syndication
9 points by fortran77 37 days ago | 0 comments
Chicago Sun-Times confirms AI used to create reading list of nonexistent books (theguardian.com)
Illinois’ prominent Chicago Sun-Times newspaper has confirmed that a summer reading list, which included several recommendations for books that don’t exist, was created using artificial intelligence by a freelancer who worked with one of their content partners.
Artificial Intelligence, Journalism, Media, Errors, Books
7 points by phony-account 38 days ago | 0 comments
At Least Two Newspapers Syndicated AI Garbage (theatlantic.com)
At first glance, “Heat Index” appears as inoffensive as newspaper features get. A “summer guide” sprawling across more than 50 pages, the feature, which was syndicated over the past week in both the Chicago Sun-Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer, contains “303 Must-Dos, Must-Tastes, and Must-Tries” for the sweaty months ahead.
Artificial Intelligence, Journalism, Syndication, Media
7 points by JumpCrisscross 38 days ago | 1 comments
The Onion's Ben Collins Knows How to Save Media (vanityfair.com)
The NBC News reporter turned CEO sits down for a long talk about his “weird and awkward” last year at the network; his girlfriend, congressional hopeful Kat Abughazaleh; and how he turned The Onion around: “Write a bunch of unprintable headlines.”
Media, Journalism, Humor, Leadership, The Onion
17 points by coloneltcb 38 days ago | 2 comments
Nonprofit news media leaders are struggling to stop leaning on foundations (theconversation.com)
You’ve probably heard the adage about not putting all your eggs in one basket.
Nonprofit Media, Journalism, Funding, Philanthropy
4 points by rntn 38 days ago | 0 comments
Chicago Sun-Times publishes made-up books and fake experts in AI debacle (theverge.com)
The May 18th issue of the Chicago Sun-Times features dozens of pages of recommended summer activities: new trends, outdoor activities, and books to read. But some of the recommendations point to fake, AI-generated books, and other articles quote and cite people that don’t appear to exist.
Artificial Intelligence, Journalism, Media, Fake News
9 points by 01-_- 38 days ago | 2 comments
Newspapers Are Recommending AI-Hallucinated Novels (countercraft.substack.com)
Over the weekend, the Chicago Sun-Times—a storied and award-winning newspaper and longtime home of Roger Ebert—published a summer reading list. Almost all the books were fake.
Artificial Intelligence, Media, Books, Journalism
12 points by greenie_beans 38 days ago | 2 comments
How does The Guardian track us? (reddit.com)
Dedicated to the intersection of technology, privacy, and freedom in the digital world.
Privacy, Technology, Journalism, Data Tracking
3 points by bundie 38 days ago | 0 comments
Chicago Sun Times used AI for its (fake) summer reading list (reddit.com)
Artificial Intelligence, Journalism, Media, Chicago, Fake News
8 points by tahoupt 38 days ago | 0 comments
DDoSecrets publishes 410 GB of heap dumps, hacked from TeleMessage (micahflee.com)
This morning, Distributed Denial of Secrets published 410 GB of data hacked from TeleMessage, the Israeli firm that makes modified versions of Signal, WhatsApp, Telegram, and WeChat that centrally archive messages. Because the data is sensitive and full of PII, DDoSecrets is only sharing it with journalists and researchers.
Data Leaks, Cybersecurity, Privacy, Journalism, Israel
666 points by micahflee 39 days ago | 188 comments
The Khashoggi Compromise (status.news)
Earlier this week, Amazon announced a $5 billion “strategic partnership” with Humain, a Saudi artificial intelligence initiative backed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Artificial Intelligence, Saudi Arabia, Technology, Politics, Journalism
10 points by archagon 41 days ago | 1 comments
Bill that would require big tech to pay OR newsrooms advances despite opposition (oregonlive.com)
An Oregon bill that would require big tech companies including Google and Meta to pay money to local newsrooms and journalists is steadily advancing despite protests from tech industry groups.
News Media, Journalism, Technology, Politics, Legislation
3 points by docdeek 42 days ago | 1 comments
The Journal of Imaginary Research (home.blog)
Research, Creative Writing, Journalism
34 points by cenazoic 42 days ago | 2 comments
Copaganda: How Police and the Media Manipulate Our News (teenvogue.com)
Alec Karakatsanis's new book Copaganda: How Police and the Media Manipulate Our News criticizes how the media covers — and enables — policing.
Media, Journalism, Policing, Crime, Social Justice
184 points by pavel_lishin 44 days ago | 64 comments
How Bail Bonds Work (finbarr.site)
In late 2015 I spent about a month full time deeply exploring the bail bonds industry in the United States. Why? Because I saw a sign that said “Bail Bonds” and fell down a super interesting rabbit hole. I was joined on this journey by two friends, Nick Raushenbush and Tristan Zier.
Bail Bonds, Legal System, Finance, Journalism
31 points by Finbarr 48 days ago | 8 comments
The Terror of War - An Associated Press Visual Analysis (apnews.com)
The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting.
Visualizations, News, War, Journalism
6 points by maurits 51 days ago | 0 comments
'Bizarro World' (2007) (boston.com)
Boston Globe correspondent Billy Baker discovers his wife is really, really good at Tetris.
Entertainment, Boston Globe, Journalism
65 points by Timothee 54 days ago | 9 comments
Why do econ journalists keep making this basic mistake? (noahpinion.blog)
Economics journalists, like any writers, aren’t perfect. Perhaps in a previous age, people thought that everything they read in the news was exactly true; perhaps some still do. But reporting is a human activity, and humans make mistakes. In order to get the true story, you have to read multiple sources, and be skeptical of what you read — and even then, mistakes will slip through.
Journalism, Economics, Media
34 points by paulpauper 55 days ago | 11 comments
“An independent journalist” who won't remain nameless (thehandbasket.co)
For the past 3+ months I’ve tried to keep my head down and do the work. I often remind myself that my problems are wholly insignificant compared to those of the people I speak to and write about, and complaining is a bad look. But even the most hard-nosed journalist has her breaking point, and last night I found mine.
Journalism, Ethics, Privacy, Media
259 points by mooreds 55 days ago | 104 comments
Threat of tech bros, foreign interference & disinformation to press freedom (theconversation.com)
Media freedom has long been essential to healthy democracy. It is the oxygen that fuels informed debate, exposes corruption and holds power to account. But around the world, that freedom is under sustained attack.
Media Freedom, Democracy, Censorship, Journalism, Foreign Interference
13 points by billybuckwheat 56 days ago | 1 comments
The Group Chat from Hell Has Been Exposed (thenation.com)
Marc Andreessen, Tucker Carlson, and a Winklevoss walk into a bar… and the rest of us run out of it screaming.
Social Media, Privacy, Technology, Journalism
43 points by johnshades 58 days ago | 7 comments