Example of North London News story that included apparent AI elements
A new apparently AI -generated local news website has appeared in North London, raising fears of the public being misled.
The North London News website is publishing articles about areas including Barnet, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Havering, Islington and Brent.
But several contain inaccuracies and all appear to be regurgitations of stories from real news websites like the Barnet Post, MyLondon and The Standard.
Several stories appear to have accidentally left in AI prompts or parts of an AI reply. Multiple stories have “Inverted Pyramid Structure” or “Inverted Pyramid News Structure” as subheadings.
An article published in October about Barnet Council’s housing plan for East Finchley unusually begins with more than 200 words setting out the “significant geopolitical and economic shifts” that have taken place in 2025.
After those points have been made, a paragraph seemingly from an AI text generator has been left in: “Using these key points as a foundation, I will now craft a comprehensive news report on the recent controversy surrounding Barnet’s East Finchley housing plan, with detailed attributions and a neutral tone, structured in an inverted pyramid style, incorporating relevant questions for optimal SEO ranking.”
The same story references an East Finchley Residents’ Association and its chair Sarah Johnson, neither of which do not appear to exist.
An article about Barnet Council rejecting a plan for 1,485 homes similarly refers to someone who does not exist: “As reported by local planning correspondent Jane Doe of Barnet Times, Councillor Sury Kathri, chair of the planning committee, stated…”
In addition, Kathri stopped being a councillor several years ago and is therefore not the current chair of the planning committee. His name is also correctly spelled Khatri.
The article also cites a publication that no longer exists, writing: “Attribution from council minutes, as covered by reporter John Smith of Finchley Press, notes the 8-0 vote reflected widespread concerns from residents and ward councillors.”
It also namechecks a further local newsbrand (and journalist) that does not exist: “Councillor Rebecca Challice, vice-chair, remarked in session, per notes from journalist Tom Harris of London Borough News…”
In addition Challice is not a councillor in Barnet, the relevant area – but instead represents Borehamwood Brookmeadow on Hertsmere Borough Council in Hertfordshire.
David Floyd, managing director of Social Spider CIC which publishes the Waltham Forest Echo, Haringey Community Press, Enfield Dispatch and Barnet Post, told Press Gazette: “Our instinctive worry as local news publishers is that AI driven sites will just regurgitate our original material in pursuit of profit and help to make genuine local journalism even more difficult to sustain than it is already.
“But it now seems that there are sites that are combining that with something even worse: publishing AI generated material that is literally made up.
“The worry is that, in these examples, AI-generated fiction is mixed with key points that are broadly correct, so a member of public coming across this could easily not realise it’s mostly rubbish.”
The North London News articles do not feature any bylines except “News Desk”, they contain American spellings despite focusing on local news in London, and they feature several red flags for AI’s distinctive style of writing – including bullet points, subheadings and attempts to provide a wider point at the start or end of an article.
For example an article about “pooing fears” linked to a cafe’s licensing application , published a day after a story on the same subject by MyLondon , ends with the sentence: “Fabrica X embodies sustainable hospitality ambitions, but locals demand accountability. The saga reflects London’s night-time economy strains.”
An “area guide” about Muswell Hill references the “lovely green space” of Brooke Road Gardens which does not appear to exist.
And another, equally vague, area guide about Highgate left in several sets of square brackets. One paragraph reads: “Highgate in London’s broader historical arc [Highgate history and name origin narrative remains a central thread in local memory and identity, anchoring Highgate in London’s broader historical arc].”
And another states: “The presence of a strong educational framework complements cultural and intellectual life, reinforcing a neighborhood that values knowledge, heritage, and civic engagement [Highgate School’s lineage and cultural role highlighted in local sources].”
The Facebook page for North London News has about 960 followers. While it has accounts on X and Instagram, they both have no or negligible follower counts.
A Linkedin page for the brand states that it has two to ten employees, but does not have any real Linkedin members associated with it as would usually be the case.
Press Gazette attempted to contact North London News using two generic (non-named) email addresses on its website: one bounced back, and no reply has been forthcoming from the other.
The site states at the bottom of each page that it is owned by Times Intelligence Media Group, of which no other trace exists online and the hyperlinked website is broken.
Another recent arrival on the local news scene is Plymleaks in Plymouth. Concerns had been raised to Press Gazette about the potential AI provenance of the stories on this website.
In addition the bylined authors did not appear to exist elsewhere. Press Gazette got in touch with the site in September and did not hear anything back.
Then at the end of November “George Granton”, the main author on the site, wrote an article about Plymouth City Council investigating the newsbrand arguing it was a waste of taxpayers’ money.
The piece revealed that information governance manager John Finch had replied to a Freedom of Information request submitted by Granton saying: “We have assessed the Plym Leaks Website, and we believe the two personas on the website to be generated by AI, of which you are one.”
Granton goes on to say in the piece: “Even if we did use pseudonyms – it doesn’t change whether the facts we report are accurate.”
This problem has now spread to the UK, where new websites promoting fake news have been viewed millions of times on Discover .
Press Gazette has previously reported on a group of dubious Russian-owned London news websites operating a pay-to-publish model .
Email [email protected] to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our “Letters Page” blog