Plagiarism Allegations Emerge as National Today Republishes Futurism Content Without Credit
Futurism’s recent investigation uncovered a pattern of blatant plagiarism by National Today, a news site that republished its original reporting without attribution. In one instance, the site reworded a Futurism interview with a researcher about AI’s cognitive effects, presenting it as its own original work. The stolen content included direct quotes from the interview, yet Futurism was never credited or linked.
This incident mirrors earlier cases where National Today replicated content from other outlets, such as a story on Medvi, a controversial GLP-1 marketer, without acknowledging its sources. The site’s approach has become increasingly brazen, with stolen material often appearing in sections titled “Sacramento Today” or “Cleveland Today,” mimicking local news formats. These sections are designed to deceive readers into believing the content is original, even as it rehashes reports from reputable outlets.
The stolen stories frequently lack bylines, further obscuring their origins. This tactic has led to widespread confusion, with some readers unknowingly consuming content that has been repurposed without permission. Futurism’s efforts to trace the scale of National Today’s plagiarism revealed a staggering volume of stolen work.
Corporate Involvement Unveiled: TOP Agency’s Role in National Today’s Plagiarism Scheme
National Today is not an independent operation but a project of TOP Agency, a branding firm that claims to have worked with major clients like Microsoft and Budweiser. The agency’s CEO, Benjamin Kaplan, is listed as an author on National Today’s plagiarized stories, including one about San Francisco public health workers that lifted quotes from Mission Local. This corporate backing raises questions about the site’s intent, as TOP’s mission is to create “ownable viral moments” for its clients, suggesting National Today may serve as a marketing tool disguised as journalism.
The scale of the plagiarism scheme is staggering. National Today’s content is often surfaced by Google Search and Google News, where it competes with legitimate local reporting. However, when Futurism reached out to Google, most of National Today’s results vanished, prompting the company to claim its policies prohibit “webspam” and “manipulating search rankings.” Despite this, the site continues to churn out content that appears to prioritize speed over accuracy, with errors so glaring they suggest minimal human oversight.
TOP’s website describes National Today as a platform for brands to “reach 10M consumers,” implying a calculated strategy to exploit stolen content for commercial gain. This raises ethical concerns about the agency’s role in enabling a system that profits from the erosion of journalistic integrity. The absence of accountability for the stolen work further exacerbates the issue, as victims like Mellie Valencia, a reporter whose story on a grieving mother was plagiarized, are left without recourse.
AI Errors and Fabricated Quotes Expose National Today’s Flawed Content Strategy
National Today’s reliance on AI-generated content has led to a flood of errors, including fabricated names and quotes. One article falsely reported that NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman dedicated a Moon crater to his deceased wife, “Jane Doe,” while another attributed a quote to a non-existent “Chief Jane Doe” in Burlington, Vermont. These mistakes, which often involve replacing real names with generic placeholders, highlight the AI’s inability to distinguish between real and fictional information.
The site’s AI also appears to recycle quotes without context, inserting them into unrelated stories. For example, a fabricated quote about San Francisco property damage was repeated in articles about the Dallas Cowboys and a biotech company in Boston. Such errors not only undermine the credibility of the content but also risk misleading readers who rely on these sources for accurate information.
The lack of human review exacerbates the problem, leaving the AI’s output uncorrected and unverified. Despite its flaws, National Today’s operations suggest a deliberate strategy to exploit the internet’s algorithmic biases. By flooding search results with stolen, error-ridden content, the site appears to profit from the confusion it creates.
Conclusion
National Today’s plagiarism scandal underscores a broader crisis in digital journalism, where AI-generated content and corporate interests threaten the integrity of news. As the site continues to profit from stolen work, the need for accountability and ethical oversight becomes urgent. The story of National Today is not just about one site’s misconduct but a reflection of the systemic vulnerabilities in an ecosystem increasingly dominated by automation and profit over truth.
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