Our class has been spending some time looking at NewsTrust.net. NewsTrust is a non-profit that aims to help people find good, reliable journalism on the web. Members can submit and rate stories that are found online.
The rating system asks the member to evaluate a story based on a number of things, including reliabilty of the news source, how informative the story is, if the context given in acceptible, the style of the writing and accuracy.
NewTrust then presents the best news of the day based on reviews and not solely on publication or popularity.
Similarly, members of NewsTrust also undergo a sort of rating and ranking system. Members are assigned a "Member Level," ranging from level one to level five. What level the member is on is based on their activity on the site, their experience, transparency, validation and ratings given to them by other members.
It is also possible for members to see how they rate other members over time. When you look at a person's profile, you can view the average rating that you gave to them based on their ratings.
That's a lot of rating going on, and it takes a little time to figure it all out. But overall, I think NewsTrust is a great site for getting people involved in journalism. Members' opinions really matter on this site and they do affect what stories get posted on the homepage every day.
There are many more features and things to do on NewsTrust, but I think that the best way to really get a feel for it is to go and check it out. There are discussion boards, which I am a fan of. I also really like seeing how my own review compares with the overall average review on the same story. (I feel like I know what I'm talking about when the two are similar.)
So far, my major qualm with NewTrust is that for some reason, I've yet to be able to successfully post a story. Every time I try, my computer freezes. However, I'm sure that this is the fault of my computer and not NewsTrust.
I only wish that I had starting using this site earlier in the semester. It may have helped me to keep more on top of what was going on in the world of online journalism.
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