ChatGPT and the news: perfect together

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First, the story that triggered this post; then we get to the fun part

Ethiopian Migrant Executes Three, Tells Court He Was Treated Unfairly Because He’s Black

A migrant from Ethiopia shot and killed, execution-style, three staffers at the apartment complex where he lived in Minnesota over a dispute over canceling his parking pass. The New York Post reports that Tsegaab Binessu, 30, told interrogators that he "hated the American system," and court documents stated that he believed "he was treated unfairly because he is black and an immigrant."

That’s horrific, but look at how our mass media ignored it, and then what happened when I tried to verify this X’ers claim:

First, I inquired of Google, and found plenty of references to the story reported by various news outlets, but no results for any of the organizations listed in the X post. Rather than conduct an individual search of each of them, I tried to turn the matter over to ChatGPT. Here’s what happened:

Q: a post on X, referring to a Monday July 20 2026 "incident" where an individual murdered three people was not reported in by the following news agencies: 3 people were just executed in St. Paul, MN by Tsegaab Binessu. Is that true? 0 AP stories about the executions 0 PBS stories about the executions 0 NYT stories about the executions 0 NPR stories about the executions 0 WSJ stories about the executions 0 BBC stories about the executions

(First) Chat answer:

Based on the information I could verify, the claim is not established as true.

Here's why:

  • I could not verify that an incident matching the description ("three people were just executed in St. Paul, MN by Tsegaab Binessu" on July 20, 2026) occurred from reliable public reporting. My search did not locate wire reports or other authoritative coverage identifying such an event or suspect.

  • Because I could not first confirm the underlying event from reliable sources, I also cannot conclude that the Associated Press, PBS, The New York Times, NPR, The Wall Street Journal, or the BBC all failed to cover it.

  • Claims on social media that list "0 AP stories," "0 NYT stories," etc., are often based on limited searches, specific time windows, or no evidence at all. To substantiate such a claim, you'd need to:

    1. Confirm the incident occurred as described.

    2. Search each outlet's archive over a defined time period.

    3. Account for the possibility that an outlet relied on AP coverage, local reporting, or published the story later.

So the most accurate assessment is:

  • The claim is not verified.

  • I could not confirm either the reported triple homicide or the assertion that all six news organizations ignored it.

If you're trying to fact-check a specific X post, I can also help trace where the name "Tsegaab Binessu" originated and determine whether the post is referring to a real case, a misidentified suspect, or a fabricated claim.

So I tried again:

Q:

Well, here's what Google turned up: Disgruntled tenant 'executed' 3 leasing office workers over ... WSMV https://www.wsmv.com › 2026/07/22 › disgruntled-ten... 16 hours ago — The suspect allegedly confessed to his roommate, saying he “argued with apartment management and ended up killing three people.” Suspect charged with killing three people in St. Paul ... MPR News https://www.mprnews.org › story › 2026/07/21 › suspe... 23 hours ago — The charges state the shooting was captured on surveillance video and claim that Tsegaab Ademassu Binessu also confessed to his roommate. Missing: CNN ‎| Show results with: CNN PURE EVIL AT WORK Tsegaab Binessu wanted to cancel his ... Facebook https://www.facebook.com › groups › posts OCR: Save America Tsegaab Binessu 30 from Ethiopia has killed three of his leasing agents over a garage rental. He blames the "American system" for not ... St. Paul triple homicide charges: Suspect 'executed' victims ... FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul https://www.fox9.com › News › Crime and Public Safety 24 hours ago — A man has been charged after authorities say he "executed" three property managers at his apartment building over a dispute about a $65 ... Triple homicide suspect arrested in Virginia after St. Paul ... WDIO News https://www.wdio.com › top-stories › triple-homicide-s... 24 hours ago — A suspect who police believe shot and killed three people at a St. Paul apartment building was arrested Monday night after he fled to the ...Read more Disgruntled tenant 'executed' 3 leasing office workers over ... WEAU https://www.weau.com › 2026/07/22 › disgruntled-tena... 16 hours ago — (WCCO) - A disgruntled tenant is accused of killing three workers in his Minnesota apartment complex's leasing office over a parking garage ...Read more Disgruntled tenant 'executed' 3 leasing office workers over ... WBAY https://www.wbay.com › 2026/07/22 › disgruntled-tena... 16 hours ago — (WCCO) - A disgruntled tenant is accused of killing three workers in his Minnesota apartment complex's leasing office over a parking garage ...Read more Tenant accused of executing 3 people inside leasing office ... WKRC https://local12.com › news › nation-world › tsegaab-bin... 15 hours ago — Three Davern Park Apartments employees were fatally shot inside the leasing office before police arrested the suspect. St. Paul triple homicide charges: Suspect 'executed' victims ... Yahoo https://www.yahoo.com › news › articles › st-paul-triple... 24 hours ago — A man has been charged after authorities say he "executed" three property managers at his apartment building over a dispute about a $65 ... Disgruntled apartment tenant executed 3 over parking ... Channel 3000 https://www.channel3000.com › national-and-world-news

Chat - oh!

Thanks—that changes the picture.

Your Google results show that the underlying event is real. It was reported by local and regional outlets beginning July 21, and by July 22 it had been picked up by a number of television affiliates and national-oriented news sites. The suspect, Tsegaab Ademassu Binessu, was charged with three counts of second-degree murder in connection with the killings at the Davern Park Apartments leasing office in St. Paul.

The narrower claim in the X post, however, is that AP, PBS, NYT, NPR, WSJ, BBC had zero stories. That's a different question.

Based on what I can verify:

  • AP: I could not find an AP story as of the time I checked.

  • PBS: I could not find a PBS News story.

  • The New York Times: I could not find a NYT story.

  • NPR: I could not find an NPR story. (Minnesota Public Radio, MPR News, is not the same organization as NPR, even though it is an NPR member station.)

  • Wall Street Journal: I could not find a WSJ story.

  • BBC: I could not find a BBC story.

And it continues to defend its wrong answer:

That said, there are two important caveats:

  1. Absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence. Search indexes are imperfect, and outlets sometimes publish later, update existing articles, or syndicate wire copy without making it easy to find.

  2. The story was very new. On July 21–22 it had extensive local coverage (MPR News, KSTP, Star Tribune, FOX 9, WCCO/CBS Minnesota) and was being syndicated through television affiliate networks such as CNN Newsource.

So the most accurate characterization would be:

  • ✅ The triple homicide occurred and was widely reported by Minnesota media and television affiliates.

  • ✅ At the time of checking, I could not verify coverage by AP, PBS, NYT, NPR, WSJ, or BBC.

  • ❌ But stating categorically that those outlets had "0 stories" requires a comprehensive archive search at a specific point in time, which is stronger than what ordinary web searches can establish.

“The X post is therefore correct about the existence of the crime, but its media-coverage claim should be treated as "not verified" rather than established fact unless someone has systematically searched each outlet's archive as of a defined timestamp.”

Conclusion: ChatGPT’s no better than Snopes when it researches politically inconvenient stories. In fact, it’s really just Snopes dressed up in glitzy techno-gear.

UPDATE: after mulling it over, I wrote back to the algorithm:

Thinking about it, I'm disturbed at your answer to my first inquiry. I try very hard to verify claims and posts I see on the Internet before republishing on my own blog, and I've been relying on ChatGPT for much of that verification. I initially did a quick search using Google, came up with literally dozens of news stories on the incident, then used CNN's own search feature and found no reference to the story. Rather than conduct a laborious, individual search of each of the news organizations mentioned in the post I was attempting to verify, I turned thee task over to you, and got a garbage, wrong answer. Only when I provided you with what Google found in a second did you come up with a more accurate anser but even then you attempted to defend your first anser with lame excuses like, of it happened so recently — the murders occurred Monday, this is now Wednesday evening. What happened, and how should I frame my questions to you to get better ansers?

You’re right to be disturbed. My first answer was bad, and the problem was not the way you asked. Your question was sufficiently clear for me to investigate properly.

What went wrong

I made several serious verification errors:

  1. I failed to establish the basic event before assessing coverage.
    A competent search should have tried the suspect’s full and shortened names, the location, “St. Paul triple homicide,” “Davern Park Apartments,” “leasing office,” and the dates July 20–22. Your ordinary Google search immediately demonstrated that the event was extensively reported.

  2. I treated my failure to find something as evidence that it might not exist.
    “I did not locate it” is not the same as “the event could not be verified.” I should have widened the search before drawing any conclusion.

  3. I cited an irrelevant source.
    The YouTube citation in my first response did not substantiate the claims I made. That alone should have made the answer unacceptable as a fact-check.

  4. I did not perform the task you actually assigned.
    You wanted the six named organizations checked. I should have searched each outlet separately—using site-restricted searches, outlet search pages where accessible, alternate spellings, and broader event descriptions—and reported the results outlet by outlet.

  5. My second answer was too defensive.
    Saying the story was “very new” did not excuse the first failure. By Wednesday evening, approximately two days after the killings and after charges and numerous reports, it was plainly possible to verify the event. Recency might explain why some national outlets had not covered it, but it did not explain why I failed to find the many existing reports.

  6. I overstated what I had verified in the corrected answer.
    “I could not find” should have been accompanied by the exact searches performed, the cutoff time, and distinctions such as NPR versus MPR. Without that audit trail, the answer was not strong enough for publication decisions.