Public media, digital innovators and historic magazine join the Trust Project

Two new board members add expertise in AI, research, media and democracy

PACIFICA, Calif., Feb. 4, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, two public media news organizations, a global digital magazine and a state-focused, investigative newsroom deploy the 8 Trust Indicators^® to demonstrate the value of their journalism. After months of training and integration of the proven Trust Project^® standard on air and online, they deepen their own integrity and enable the public to easily recognize news worth attention and trust.

Adding to its momentum, the Trust Project is pleased to announce two new board members and renewed funding from Craig Newmark Philanthropies.

The Midwest Newsroom, an investigative and enterprise public radio journalism collaboration, and Rocky Mountain PBS, Colorado's only statewide television network, are the first public media in the United States to become Trust Project news partners. The public will now hear, see and read information about their journalists, where they got their information and what policies guide them, among other integrity disclosures. Newsweek, the 92-year-old, global news magazine, incorporated substantial upgrades to meet the Trust Indicator standard. Similarly, the Maine Monitor, which provides investigative and explanatory reporting, enthusiastically embraced more transparency and accountability.

The Trust Project helps its hundreds of news partners build integrity into every aspect of their journalism: newsgathering; news presentation online, in audio and video; and even in their business operations. When news outlets complete the Trust Indicators in policy and practice, they earn the Trust Mark. 

Also responding to the urgency of access to trustworthy news, Le Courrier de la Nouvelle Écosse, serving the French-speaking minority in Canada, has gone live with two Trust Indicators so far, Best Practices and Journalist Expertise.

"These incoming news organizations have worked closely with us to strengthen the value of their journalism to the public," said Trust Project founder and CEO Sally Lehrman. "We're proud of the many changes they made to earn well-deserved confidence through transparency and integrity." 

The Trust Indicators^® help people who want to stay informed by making it easy to choose news with confidence. Together, they demonstrate the fundamentals of honest journalism: serving the public interest, separating opinion and paid content from news, protecting newsgathering from funder or government interests, and committing to impartiality, fact-checking and correcting errors.

The Project also is delighted to welcome two new board members, Claes de Vreese, Distinguished University Professor of AI & Society at the University of Amsterdam and co-director of the AI, Media & Democracy Lab, and Anya Schiffrin, director of the Technology, Media, and Communications specialization at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. "We look forward to the deep expertise in technology, research, global media and democracy they bring to our mission to ensure people can access trustworthy news and participate fully in democratic society," said Lee Hill, Trust Project board member and Executive Editor of GBH News.

The Trust Project is grateful to Craig Newmark Philanthropies for their generous renewal of funding, which will help support all of the Trust Project Network sites in implementing the Trust Indicators.

About the Trust Project:
The nonprofit, nonpartisan Trust Project is a global network of news organizations that affirm and amplify journalism's commitment to transparency, accuracy and inclusion. The Trust Project created the 8 Trust Indicators^®, a collaborative, journalism-generated and proven standard that helps both regular people and technology easily assess the authority and integrity of news. Polices and standards are shaped through user research and enforced independently from the project's funding sources. For more, visit: https://thetrustproject.org/faq/.

Media Contact:
Jessica Sterling, 650-728-8211

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