The Florida Trib has shared how it uncovered an AI-generated "local news outlet" in South Florida. The investigation linked the site to a national network of fake news sites and to the man behind them.
The story is now featured on "Question Everything," a public radio podcast. The show is made by KCRW, an NPR station in Los Angeles, and the audio company Placement Theory.
The Florida Trib said it had no idea at the start that the work would uncover a national network. It also did not expect to unmask the person running it.
What the Investigation Found
The site was called the South Florida Standard. The Florida Trib found that its "local journalists" were not real people.
They were created with artificial intelligence. Each one had a fake headshot and a made-up biography filled with South Florida cliches.
Their names appeared on articles copied from real news outlets. Those stories were run through AI and then published again on the site.
The Florida Trib first published its findings on May 14, 2026. Reporter Kate Payne led the work.
How the Podcast Joined the Search
Brian Reed hosts "Question Everything." He first heard about the South Florida Standard from a reporter friend named Blake Morrison.
The Florida Trib had contacted Morrison because one of the fake staff members on the site used the same name. It is not clear if the name was chosen to make the site seem more believable or if it was a coincidence.
Morrison passed the discovery along to Reed. Each week, the podcast looks at how the truth gets buried, distorted and denied.
Zach St. Louis, a producer on the show, played a key role in the search. He helped find digital fingerprints hidden inside the site.
Those clues connected the South Florida Standard to more than a dozen similar AI-driven news sites across the country. The Florida Trib credited the collaboration with helping solve the mystery.
The trail led to Drew Chapin, a tech executive in Philadelphia. According to The Florida Trib, Chapin has a checkered and criminal past.
The Florida Trib said the real reason he built the sites is stranger than anyone on the team expected. It did not detail his motive in its latest update and instead pointed readers to the podcast.
Four months after The Florida Trib published its findings, the South Florida Standard is still offline. Its web address now sends visitors to The Florida Trib's own investigation of the site.
The episode features the Florida Trib reporter who dug into the network. The show's team, including Reed and St. Louis, worked alongside the paper on the case.
"Question Everything" has now released its own story on the case, calling it the "curious case of the fake Florida newsroom." The Florida Trib shared the update on September 24, 2026.
