Today in Philly fake news … fake TV shows and fake book lists

Sometimes news comes out that s stranger than fiction or in this situation faker than fiction There have been a couple media stories circulating currently including a summer reading list with recommendations of books by famous authors like Isabel Allende and a new Philadelphia-based legal drama featuring cast members from Parks and Recreation Sadly both were made up Billy Penn thought we would get to the bottom of things Fake Book Recs The Inquirer has been pulled into an AI disgrace that began when readers of the Chicago Sun Times noted that a summer reading list that was part of a seasonal guide included fictitious book recommendations The books listed had real famous authors like Min Jin Lee of Pachinko and Andy Weir of The Martian but they were associated with fake titles Nightshade Territory and The Last Algorithm respectively and fake descriptions to boot Weir delivers another science-driven thriller the blurb for the book read This time the story follows a programmer who discovers that an AI system has developed consciousness and has been secretly influencing global events for years Ironically this description was also AI-generated Social media sleuths and reddit posters were quick to point out that only five of the books listed were real The AI-generated reading list On Tuesday alert readers noted the same guide and summer reading list was part of last Thursday s Inquirer There is no byline on the reading list However writer Marco Buscaglia spoke with Media and took responsibility I do use AI for background at times but dependably check out the material first This time I did not and I can t believe I missed it because it s so obvious No excuses Buscaglia mentioned On me percent and I m totally embarrassed While Buscaglia claimed that he constantly double-checks his facts besides of class this glaring situation The Verge communicated that another one of Buscaglia s stories includes quotes attributed to publications or experts that do not appear to be real In comment Inquirer CEO Lisa Hughes explained the entire guide including the summer reading list was a purchased advertorial and not created by Inquirer staff nor was it put through its editorial process All of the material in the supplement was produced and designed by King Features a unit of Hearst from which The Inquirer has received syndicated materials like comics puzzle books and supplemental content for over years Hughes stated The Inquirer newsroom is not involved in the production of these syndicated features nor was it involved in creating Heat Index The guide was included in Thursday s e-edition until it was removed Tuesday Hughes called the AI-generated content a violation of our own internal policies and a serious breach For those craving a human-generated summer reading list The Atlantic of late published its roundup Fake Philly Television Amy Poehler revealed a trailer this week on her podcast Good Hang for a TV show called Philly Justice featuring herself and other Parks and Recreation alumni Sadly Philly Justice is not in fact about to be our newest watch repping the City of Brotherly Love la Abbott Elementary or It s Perpetually Sunny The show s a fake and the trailer was created years ago as an inside joke between Parks and Rec cast members Poehler invited show creator Mike Schur and producer Morgan Sackett as well as actors Adam Scott and Rashida Jones to talk about the project on her podcast The idea began after Poehler Hahn Scott Jones and Paul Rudd appeared together in a photo wearing their Parks and Rec workplace attire with their arms crossed looking sternly at the camera Jones joked that it looked like they were filming a legal procedural From there things escalated We were talking about how this picture on set then became a private joke that then became a show that then was written by the writers while we were doing a real show Poehler noted on the episode Eventually cast members took time out of their busy schedules to get together and really film scenes for Philly Justice Sackett the producer even sent out an email with a shooting schedule and plan for the show s pilot which he read out loud for the podcast We re planning on converting the Barkley Group set into the office of the Philly Justice organization We re also going to set up a courtroom scene Sackett declared The plan is to dress and groom everyone as lawyers The cast even created detailed character backstories I was playing Joey Martinez who was a first-year associate Jones explained She had a really rough background She doesn t like to talk but she s the one that gives it to you straight even when you don t ask her opinion Scott s character was even more out there a leather-jacket-wearing district attorney who was the only person from his former firm to survive I just remember being so excited that we were going to get to do it Scott explained Because we had been talking at that point for maybe like six months or something Rudd doesn t appear in the final cut The cast jokes that they replaced him with the actor Dylan McDermott who is indeed in the trailer At the end of the podcast episode Poehler certainly plays the fake trailer which involves intense courtroom hijinks multiple surprise bystanders and a passionate kiss For the first time ever on DVD a legendary courtroom drama that no one has ever seen a trailer narrator says These lawyers play by their own rules and they play for keeps The Philly Justice trailer is available on Youtube and Spotify It starts at about an hour and minutes into the Good Hang podcast Now back to real news The post In the modern day in Philly fake news fake TV shows and fake book lists appeared first on Billy Penn at WHYY