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April 7, 2025updated 09 Apr 2025 8:15am

Virtual reality: The widely-quoted media experts who are not what they seem

One commentator contacted by Press Gazette does not exist and another declined to share credentials or other proof.

By Rob Waugh

Since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, anyone can generate comment, on any subject, in an instant.

It is a technology that appears to have fuelled a rise in expert commentators who have appeared widely in national newspapers but who are either not real, not what they seem to be or at the very least have CVs which do not justify their wide exposure in major newsbrands.

The rise in dubious commentators has been fuelled by companies that charge the PR industry in order to share quotes via email with journalists who have submitted requests for comment.

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