The Trust Project Expands Network and Wins New Funding
Newest sites expand Trust Indicators' global impact on news literacy
PACIFICA, Calif., July 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Advancing the Trust Project campaign against imposter sites peddling falsehoods, five news sites have earned the Trust Mark and joined the project's network of news organizations committed to transparency, impartiality and accuracy. The global Trust Network now extends to Panama and across 43 of the 50 United States, including a new, on-air presence in broadcast.
The nonprofit also announced renewed funding from Democracy Fund to amplify trustworthy journalism as a means to support the democratic process.
"We are proud to help more people throughout the world use the Trust Indicators to find a trusted information partner, which will enable them to make informed decisions about their lives, their communities and their governments," said Sally Lehrman, founder and CEO of the Trust Project. "Our new partner sites are deepening their dedication to the fundamentals of journalism, including reporting with integrity, honesty and inclusion at heart."
The Trust Mark logo indicates that a site has made specific commitments and shows on its pages the 8 Trust Indicators®, a global standard for news transparency and integrity. The 8 Trust Indicators detail who and what is behind a given news site and help people easily distinguish impartial journalism from rumor and deception – critical at all times, but especially so today.
The news sites expand the Trust Project's network into new regions of Brazil, the Catalonia region of Spain, Panama, and across wide portions of the United States underserved by news organizations:
The leading news site in the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo, A Gazeta delivers daily local and regional content on a wide range of public interest topics.
Amazônia Real features a network of reporters, many indigenous themselves, who cover environmental issues along the Amazon region and give visibility to indigenous and riverside populations, especially those not covered by mainstream press.
The high-circulation daily El Periódico de Catalunya serves its region and Spain more generally with progressive, secular attention to human, social and economic rights, with a focus on people, the planet and progress.
La Prensa is a respected independent voice in Panama, with no single controlling owner, even undergoing several forced closures by government forces over its 40 years. Its mission is to strengthen democracy in Panama.
Public News Service provides reporting to about 60 million people weekly through more than 4,000 local radio, print, television and online outlets, with a focus on rural communities that receive little news media attention. Through the news service, audiences will now routinely hear the Trust Indicators on air.
The new partners underwent an extensive process to implement the Trust Project's 8 Trust Indicators – evaluating and updating policies, creating new procedures, and adding transparency to existing standards. Developed by The Trust Project in collaboration with both the public and leaders in news organizations worldwide, the 8 Trust Indicators help news media hold themselves accountable and dedicate themselves to the public interest. They increasingly are being used as a news literacy training tool and for external assessment of news site validity.
The 8 Trust Indicators include:
- Best Practices (standards and policies)
- Journalist Expertise
- Type of Work Labels
- References for claims
- Methods of reporting
- Local expertise and sourcing
- Diverse Voices and perspectives
- Actionable Feedback (public engagement)
Democracy Fund is a valued contributor to the Trust Project along with Craig Newmark Philanthropies, Facebook and Google. Trust Project policies and the Trust Indicators are shaped and enforced independently from the project's funding sources.
To learn more about The Trust Project and the 8 Trust Indicators, visit thetrustproject.org.
About the Trust Project:
The Trust Project is a global network of news organizations working to affirm and amplify journalism's commitment to transparency, accuracy and inclusion. The project created the Trust Indicators, which are a collaborative, journalism-generated standard for news transparency that helps both people and algorithms easily assess the authority and integrity of news. The Trust Indicators are based in robust user-centered design research and respond to public needs and wants. The Trust Project, Trust Indicators and Trust Mark logo are exclusive trademarks of The Trust Project. For more, visit thetrustproject.org/faq/.
For more information about this release, contact:
Jessica Sterling, Program Assistant
Jcsterling@thetrustproject.org
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