The Trust Project is a project to help you evaluate journalism and news sources.
The project offers a "global transparency standard that helps people know who and what is behind a news story: policies to ensure honesty, accuracy and fairness, commitments to own up to mistakes, details about ownership, info on a journalist’s expertise, and more." The founder and leader, Sally Lehrman, was professor and senior director of the journalism program at SCU's Markkula Center for Applied Ethics.
Below are the 7 Trust Indicators (reproduced from this handout, which you can download for more details).
Who made this? Do they have a good professional reputation? Are they reporting on an area they normally focus on?
Why has this been created? Does this have a clear opinion, or is it impartial? Is this sponsored or is it advertising something? Is the purpose clearly indicated?
What’s the source? For investigative, in-depth, or controversial stories, do we have access to the sources behind the claims? Can you find another source to back up what is being said?
Was the reporting done with deep knowledge about the local situation or community? Was the journalist on the scene? Does the story let you know when the news sources are local?
What are the newsroom’s efforts and commitments to bring in diverse perspectives? Are some communities included only in stereotypical ways, or even completely missing?
Can we participate? Can we give feedback? Does the news site invite and acknowledge contributions from the public?
How was it made? How long did it take to make? Who else was involved in the process?
Does the journalist or organization have a list of rules that they must follow? Who funds them? What is the organization’s mission and priorities? How do they check their facts? Does the journalist or organization make corrections if they are wrong? Do they have a commitment to ethical, diverse and accurate reporting? How do they show they are sticking to the rules?