"Zombie" Papers pop up across Central Illinois near election

CHAMPAIGN, ILL. (WAND) - A Champaign resident received what he thought was a new local newspaper in the area.

"I pulled it out, I thought huh. Somebody is starting up a new little newspaper for Champaign-Urbana," said the Champaign resident.

However, after reading the first few lines, he noticed something was off about the paper. That's when he realized it was not what he thought. The fake newspaper contained graphic images and language.

"It's just so disgusting and some of the imagery is so disgusting inside here. You can't show some of these images. So it's a fake newspaper with a lot of disgusting imagery," said Champaign resident.

While the paper may seem legitimate at first glance, it portrays a one-sided political agenda. Reginald Hardwick, news director of Illinois Public Media, said the articles are missing important features.

"These newspapers look legitimate. They have headlines, and pictures and everything. But what you may notice upon a closer look, is that these stories kind of lean a certain political persuasion. Don't have by-lines, they just have 'Staff Member' on all the stories. They aren't written by specific people. The fact is, they are not trained, vetted journalists," said Hardwick.

The Chambana Sun mentioned topics like sex education, critical race theory and comments about Governor JB Pritzker, while using inappropriate terms.

With the election less than a week away, Mike Ingram said the papers popping up recently aren't a coincidence.

"Knowing that it's fake is very helpful. Knowing that it's not a reputable news organization or news source, it's made to look like that. It's not a coincidence it's coming out now. This is the exact time they want this to come out. They know a lot of their base and a lot of people would turn out on election day or early vote a couple days before or still have their vote-by-mail ballots. They are going to be impacted by this kind of thing," said Mike Ingram, Champaign County Democratic Party Chair.

They are urging voters to do independent research on candidates and use verified news sources.

"Whatever they have to do to get your vote, they'll do it. And be careful out there, and vote," said the Champaign resident.