More than 75 media organisations will be participating in the Project from around the world by showing users 'Trust indicators', new information on their websites that bring a common set of standards in the openness of the publisher's ethics and expertise.
Google, Facebook, Bing and Twitter have all agreed to use the indicators, and are investigating and piloting ideas about how to best use them to surface and display quality journalism.
Each 'Trust indicator' is signalled in the article and site code, providing the first standardised technical language for platforms to learn more from news sites about the quality and expertise of a journalist's work.
Three Haymarket sites will show the Trust Indicators early in the New Year - FourFourTwo, Stuff and WhatHiFi.com.
The indicators are the result of over a year's collaboration between media organisations, with Haymarket Consumer Media Editorial Director Mark Payton representing the Group as a member of the Trust Project's News Leadership Council.
Mark says: “Haymarket invests in the quality and integrity of its journalism. And core to that integrity is treating users with the transparency and respect they deserve.
“The Project's taking precisely the right approach by going to the heart of the issue. The research conducted before we began exploring the indicators revealed that the public is only too aware of the problems with modern media - they demand transparency, and this is the Project's primary aim.”
Publishers participating in The Trust Project include The Economist, The New York Times, Mic, Trinity Mirror, Washington Post and La Stampa.
The Project is funded by the Craig Newmark Philanthropic Fund, Google, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Democracy Fund and the Markkula Foundation.
The eight core Trust indicators are:
Best Practices
What are your standards? What is your funding? What's your mission? What's your corrections policy?
Author expertise
Who reported this? Details about the journalist, including expertise and other stories they have worked on.
Type of work
What is this? Labels to sort opinion, analysis and advertiser (or sponsored) content from news reports.
Citations and references
For in-depth or investigative stories, greater access to the sources behind the facts and assertions.
Methods
For in-depth stories, information about why reporters chose a story, and how they went about the process.
Locally sourced?
Let's you know when the story has a local origin or expertise
Diverse voices
A media organisation's efforts to bring in diverse perspectives
Actionable feedback
A media organisation's efforts to engage its audience in setting the coverage priorities, contributing to the reporting process, ensuring accuracy and other areas.
Google VP of news products Richard Gingras says: “Quality journalism has never been more important. Partnering with the Trust Project since its conception has been of significant importance to Google, in large part because we believe the indicators can help our algorithms better understand authoritative journalism.
“We hope to use the Type of Work indicator to improve the accuracy of article labels in Google News, and indicators such as Best Practices and Author Info in our Knowledge Panels.”
Links / further reading: The Trust Project
