Stolen identities. Stolen articles: AI slop is already invading Oregon's local journalism

https://www.opb.org/article/2024/12/09/artificial-intelligence-local-news-oregon-ashland/

AI slop is already invading Oregon’s local journalism

By Ryan Haas (OPB)
Dec. 9, 2024 6 a.m.

Silicon Valley’s latest hot technology is being used to further degrade the news available to Oregonians
If you believe the internet, in his first month at the Ashland Daily Tidings, reporter Joe Minihane skied the slopes of Mount Ashland, ate at 15 restaurants in Roseburg, hiked the Owyhee Canyonlands in Malheur County, took in Autzen Stadium and Multnomah Falls, and visited the Neskowin Ghost Forest on the Oregon Coast.

And sure, more than 1,200 miles of travel to write 10 stories in a month might seem excessive for a local outdoors reporter who was new to his Southern Oregon job, but who could argue with his output?

…

“I mean, the bylines are just bizarre because they’re on topics a) of which I have no understanding and b) I’ve been to Oregon once in my life for a very, very lovely holiday in Portland,” the United Kingdom-based writer told OPB.

The Ashland Daily Tidings — established as a newspaper in 1876 — ceased operations in 2023, but if you were a local reader, you may not have known. Almost as soon as it closed, a website for the Tidings reemerged, boasting a team of eight reporters, Minihane included, who cranked out densely reported stories every few days.

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“Plagiarism, I think it’s called,” quipped Bert Etling, the former editor of the Daily Tidings who now runs the digital nonprofit media outlet Ashland.news.

Etling, who started his local journalism career in 1982 and was laid off in 2019 by Rosebud Media, noticed the revived Daily Tidings soon after it emerged because his own reporters saw work remarkably similar to their own appearing on the webpage. The stories would have fresh headlines and the writing would be tweaked, but the reporting and quotes from sources would closely match work Ashland.news had previously published. OPB staff members have also had their work taken and republished on the Daily Tidings website with marginally changed sentences.

“They just put it in a blender and then pour it out on their page,” Etling said. “It’s maddening.”

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(It’s later than you think.)