The “Heat Index” summer guide newspaper insert published by the Chicago Sun-Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer that contained AI-generated misinformation and reading lists full of books that don’t exist was created by a subsidiary of the magazine giant Hearst, 404 Media has learned.
Victor Lim, the vice president of marketing and communications at Chicago Public Media, which owns the Chicago Sun-Times, told 404 Media in a phone call that the Heat Index section was licensed from a company called King Features, which is owned by the magazine giant Hearst. He said that no one at Chicago Public Media reviewed the section and that historically it has not reviewed newspaper inserts that it has bought from King Features.
“Historically, we don’t have editorial review from those mainly because it’s coming from a newspaper publisher, so we falsely made the assumption there would be an editorial process for this,” Lim said. “We are updating our policy to require internal editorial oversight over content like this.”
King Features syndicates comics and columns such as Car Talk, Hints from Heloise, horoscopes, and a column by Dr. Oz to newspapers, but it also makes special inserts that newspapers can buy and put into their papers. King Features calls itself a “unit of Hearst.”
Lim said that Chicago Public Media is “reviewing our relationship with Hearst.” He said that the paper has bought several newspaper inserts over the past few years from King Features, which in the past have included things like puzzle books. “It’s a way to supplement our paper, but usually it’s things that are not newsy content. We understand this is unacceptable for us to distribute any false content to our readers.”
The Chicago Sun-Times is a unionized newsroom whose journalists produce important work. In a statement, the Sun-Times Guild told 404 Media that they are “deeply disturbed that AI-generated content was printed alongside our work:”
“The Sun-Times Guild is aware of the third-party ‘summer guide’ content in the Sunday, May 18 edition of the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper. This was a syndicated section produced externally without the knowledge of the members of our newsroom,” the union said.
“We take great pride in the union-produced journalism that goes into the respected pages of our newspaper and on our website. We’re deeply disturbed that AI-generated content was printed alongside our work. The fact that it was sixty-plus pages of this ‘content’ is very concerning — primarily for our relationship with our audience but also for our union’s jurisdiction.
Our members go to great lengths to build trust with our sources and communities and are horrified by this slop syndication. Our readers signed up for work that has been vigorously reported and fact-checked, and we hate the idea that our own paper could spread computer- or third-party-generated misinformation. We call on Chicago Public Media management to do everything it can to prevent repeating this disaster in the future.”
King Features acknowledged a request for comment but did not immediately respond. As noticed by Matt Seybold, resident scholar at the Center for Mark Twain Studies, King Features advertised a “Summer Fun and Entertainment Guide” to its clients in October, which it said would be ready for publishing on May 9 of this year. “Beat the heat with our guide to summer fun and entertainment,” a blurb for the section reads. “Get the step-by-step on how to stock a sober bar, explore recipes for breezy no-oven hot weather meals, and we’ll tell you the absolute best snacks you need for outdoor movie night. Plus, it’s chock full of tips on entertaining summer lovers from 6 to 60, poolside or at the park, day and night.” The company also advertised a “Spring Health and Wellness Guide,” “A How-To Guide for Anyone!,” and a “Home for the Holidays” package.
Lim said that the Chicago Sun-Times has in recent months focused its reporting resources on local news: “Given the challenges facing the print industry, the Sun-Times has committed its strong journalism resources to local coverage in the Chicago region,” he said. “Our journalists are deeply focused on telling the stories of this city and helping connect Chicagoans with one another. That said, we also recognize that many of our print readers turn to us for national and broader coverage beyond our primary focus. We’ve historically relied on content partners for this information, but given recent developments, it’s clear we must actively evaluate new processes and partnerships to ensure we continue meeting the full range of our readers’ needs.”
Lim said “we are trying to figure out how to update our own internal policies to make sure this doesn’t happen again and require internal oversight over things like this … this is something we would never condone.” Lim said that the organization is working on creating guidelines for its own journalists about how and if AI can be used in any way. He said that for the moment the draft policies allows for AI to do things like summarize documents and analyze data but that human journalists need to verify the accuracy of anything it publishes: “We are committed to producing journalism that’s accurate, ethical, and human,” he said.
Update: This article has been updated with comment from the Chicago Sun-Times Union.