An ACT property developer is running a group of news websites using artificial intelligence to generate local news stories for major Australian cities.
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The Daily Network has launched "local" AI-powered news websites in more than 19 locations, including Canberra, Melbourne and other cities. The sites purport to offer an "independent" and "always on" daily account of the city or region.
Canberra developer Shane Anderson acknowledged creating and operating the websites, with the Canberra, Newcastle, Geelong, Wollongong and Tasmania websites registered to his ACT-based development company SAP Canberra Pty Ltd.
The Daily Canberra website, which was registered in late June 2026, carries outdated, AI-generated news, including stories on road upgrades, Commonwealth rent assistance changes and the light rail extension, as well as headlines from national articles published on the ABC website. At least 23 articles were published on The Daily Canberra on July 8 alone.
"The articles, local-news syntheses, roundups and guides on this site are AI-generated. A human, the publisher, sets the editorial policy," the Canberra website said.
"Our articles are generated by AI from named, publicly available sources that we link in every piece. The publisher is accountable for everything we publish."
The Daily Canberra also carries an advertisement for a luxury development in Belconnen, managed by SAP Canberra Pty Ltd.
Original plans for The Lawson, a development of more than 400 apartments, were refused by the ACT Planning Authority in January 2025. A second application was approved subject to conditions in June 2025 and a further amendment is under consideration by the authority.
At the time of writing, the Canberra website did not name a publisher, but the site has since been updated to name Shane Anderson as the founder.
Many of the other sites state they were founded by Shane Anderson, who is described on the Newcastle site as "a Novocastrian who grew up reading the local paper at the kitchen table and wanted that habit to survive the collapse of legacy local news".
Mr Anderson is also described by The Daily Geelong as "a Geelong local who got tired of watching the city's news get thinner, slower".
In response to questions, Mr Anderson said AI was already being used in media organisations, and the divide was between those that used it responsibly, and those that did not.
However, he did not say that he read articles labelled as '"sensitive", such as court stories, before they were published. The news websites state sensitive material is "held for human review".
"I do not personally read every item published across the network before it goes live, but my proprietary system uses sourcing rules, red flags, automated checks, safeguards and escalation processes, with human oversight focused where judgment and care are most important," Mr Anderson said.
"The reference to 'a local' was a poor choice of words on my part and is being updated. My intention was to put a human name behind the project, not suggest I had somehow managed to become a lifelong resident of 19 different cities at once."
The property developer said the advertisement for his development was used to test how sponsored content worked on the website.
"The aim is not to remove human judgment. It is to use technology for what technology does well, and preserve human judgment for the things that need it most," Mr Anderson said.
"When I say the sites are free and independent, they are independent of any large media group, political organisation or institutional investor."
The Canberra Times staff use AI for basic editing and ideas generation. All articles are written entirely by a human.
The Daily Canberra morning newsletter sent on Monday, July 6, shared headlines from The Canberra Times and Region Canberra. While the Canberra website states one person has subscribed to the daily newsletter, other publications, such as the Newcastle website, claim thousands of people have signed up.
A seemingly AI-generated audio clip on the website reads "the day's top Canberra stories" in an American accent for June 29, starting with "wellness news" and mangling the pronunciation of Belconnen.
"Canberra's outdoor spaces like Lake Burley Griffin offer great opportunities to boost your sleep quality through evidence-based routines and local resources," the audio says.
"And if you've been watching Molonglo, the stage two light rail extension is expected to drive property values up by 15 to 20 per cent by 2029, with the area attracting young families after affordable homes."
The article referenced in the broadcast has since been removed from the website. It is unclear what source material it used.
A 2025 Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism survey of more than 10,000 people across six countries, including the US and the UK, found only 12 per cent were comfortable with fully AI-generated news. Respondents raised concerns over transparency and trustworthiness, and reported low confidence in the human oversight of AI in news.
Lucy Arundell
Lucy is an ACT Legislative Assembly reporter for The Canberra Times. She previously worked as the city reporter. Got a tip? Email her at lucy.arundell@canberratimes.com.au or securely at lucy.arun@proton.me.
