A regional journalist has exposed an AI-written ‘zombie’ website which attempted to pass itself off as a relaunched version of a defunct title.

National Wales 2.0 tried to brand itself as a relaunch of the National, a Wales-wide news website launched by Newsquest in 2021 which closed the following year.

But an investigation by Conor Gogarty of WalesOnline revealed that the site had been using AI tools to regurgitate other websites’ local news stories for ad money.

The editor, who called himself ‘Harry Jazz’, shut down the site after what Conor described as a “bizarre conversation in which it became clear he had no real connection to Wales.”

The first iteration of The National closed in the autumn of 2022 with the loss of two journalism jobs, after which Newsquest allowed the domain name to lapse.

According to WalesOnline, the domain was then briefly taken over by an “unknown entity” which used it as a platform for a series of Wales-related “explainers” which bore the characteristics of so-called ‘AI slop.’

The site then became inactive again, until ‘Harry Jazz’ relaunched it as The National Wales 2.0, vowing to “rebuild it as a truly independent, Welsh-led, and community-focused news platform.”

In a piece on the website, ‘Harry’ distanced himself from what he termed the “low-quality” work of the “bloggers” who had previously taken over the domain, claiming he had assembled a “passionate editorial team” of eight who would usher in “a new chapter for Welsh journalism.”

Conor initially became suspicious last month after covering the sentencing of a drug driver who had abandoned the scene of an accident in which his best friend had died.

He said: “I had been the only reporter in the courtroom, but within minutes of my story being published the National had its own version online, which was ranking as a “top story” on Google searches.

“The piece was a garbled rewrite of our court report. Its author was named as Harry Jazz, and despite his claims of a well-resourced team, his was the only byline we saw on the dozens of National stories we reviewed.

“All were uncredited imitations of stories from WalesOnline or other Welsh media, often busting copyright by stealing our photographers’ pictures without payment. Some stories were such wholesale rip-offs that they included invitations to join the WalesOnline WhatsApp group.”

The profile image of ‘Harry’ – reproduced above – initially appeared unremarkable – but on closer inspection “appeared to defy the laws of both biology and physics.”

Commented Conor: “The left ear of “Harry” was stretched beyond credulity and the horizon angled off from his head in two wildly different directions.”

His profile on the website listed several topics he “specialized” in, one of which was supposedly “coronavirus updates.”

Wrote Conor: “It turned out the bio had been lifted word for word from an old one belonging to Kieran Doody, an actual journalist on Newsquest websites.”

‘Harry’ eventually agreed to an email interview in which he disclosed he was from “a background outside the UK.”

Pressed on his home country, he said he was from Pakistan but refused to say where he was currently living and was unable to tell of a single connection with Wales.

He claimed he had been inspired to “revive” the National because of his “admiration for Wales’ culture” and said he had used “a significant portion of [his] personal savings” to buy the domain.

He shrugged off the fake profile picture as a “temporary placeholder” and said ‘Harry Jazz’ was a “pen name used for editorial purposes.”

‘Harry’ initially told WalesOnline he could “provide identity verification privately if necessary” but when asked to do so, withdrew the offer.

He then apologised for his “immature” conduct and took the website offline.

Newsquest told WalesOnline it had no connection to the ‘new’ National.

WalesOnline also asked Google what actions it is taking to identify unscrupulous website operators who target a high search ranking and whether it has a strategy to disincentivise this. It did not respond.

Conor told HTFP: “I’m glad our reporting has led to the closure of this website, but there are countless similar operations eroding the quality of information on the internet.

“It was disappointing not to receive a response when we asked if Google had any plans to address the problem.”

The episode closely echoes that of the Bournemouth Observer, which launched in 2023 using fake AI-written profiles of the 11 ‘journalists’ it claimed to have on its staff, including ‘esteemed editor David Roberts’ whose picture turned out to be a stock image of an IT man.

The site closed down after being exposed by HoldtheFrontPage reporter David Sharman.