Introduction

Picture this: you’re sipping coffee at your kitchen table, browsing what seems like your trusted local news site. The articles feel personal and relevant, covering local debates, infrastructure developments, and neighborhood tax concerns. You trust what you’re reading because it’s labeled “local news,” a cornerstone of accountability and truth in your community.

But what if those articles weren’t written by journalists? What if they were crafted by artificial intelligence (AI), paid for by anonymous billionaires or corporations with vested interests? What if their real goal wasn’t to inform, but to manipulate—to sway your opinions, influence your votes, and shield the powerful from scrutiny?

This is not a hypothetical scenario. It’s the stark reality of today’s media landscape. AI has unlocked the ability to produce vast amounts of convincing content at a fraction of the cost of traditional journalism, and dark money has provided the financial fuel to exploit this technology. Together, they have created a disinformation ecosystem where networks like pink slime media mimic the appearance of trustworthy journalism while quietly advancing partisan or corporate agendas.

We dive deep into this troubling convergence. We’ll explore how AI automates the production of misinformation, how dark money finances these operations, and how their collaboration threatens the very fabric of democracy.

I. The Rise of AI in Misinformation

Artificial intelligence has redefined how information is created and consumed. Its power lies in its efficiency—AI can generate polished, localized, and persuasive content faster than any human newsroom. While these tools have the potential to enhance legitimate journalism, they have been hijacked by bad actors to scale misinformation with ruthless precision.

A. Automating Content Creation

AI has made content creation faster, cheaper, and more scalable than ever before, but at a significant cost: the elimination of accountability and investigative rigor.

• How It Works:
  • AI platforms use advanced algorithms to analyze publicly available data—press releases, government websites, social media trends, and even user-generated content. This data is synthesized into polished articles that appear to address hyper-local concerns. From school board updates to neighborhood infrastructure projects, these stories are tailored to mimic the tone and format of legitimate journalism.
  • What’s missing is the investigative backbone that distinguishes real journalism: interviews with local sources, independent research, and critical analysis.
• Example: Metric Media:
  • Metric Media is one of the most notorious examples of pink slime media, operating over 1,000 pseudo-local news sites across the U.S. These sites churn out thousands of AI-generated articles each week, focusing on topics like school policies or small-town events. While the articles seem innocuous, many subtly embed partisan or corporate viewpoints that align with the interests of their undisclosed backers.
• Impact:
  • The scale and speed of AI-generated content overwhelm traditional newsrooms, many of which are already struggling due to shrinking budgets and staff. This creates a landscape where misinformation dominates, drowning out genuine reporting and eroding trust in journalism.

All of these examples were provided by Miranda Green’s excellent reporting from which this post was inspired. You can see here original thread https://x.com/mirandacgreen/status/1854967274202935803/