The Trust Indicators were developed by asking people what they value in their news – and what wins and loses their trust. Then the Trust Project took those insights with bedrock journalism values to come up with eight core disclosures that every reader, listener and viewer deserves to know – The Trust Indicators. By using the Trust Project Indicators, we can determine whether a news story is accurate. The 8 Indicators help you determine whether you should trust your news and make sure you are aware before you share it. They are the first 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.
Today, we evaluate two news websites, The Arizona Daily Independent News Network and The Arizona Mirror against the 8 Trust Indicators to determine whether or not the site and articles are a reliable, accurate and fair source of information.
Arizona Daily Independent News Network
Present Trust Indicators:
- The Journalist is an expert
- You can see clearly what the purpose is
- You can find and access the sources
- It has used local knowledge
- It brings in diverse perspectives
- It allows readers to participate
- The organization shows they care about the Trust Indicators by explaining their policies and standards.
The Arizona Daily Independent News Network displays 7 out of the 8 Trust Project Indicators. This site has a dedicated team of professional, citizen journalists and subject matter experts. The purpose of the Arizona Daily Independent News Network website and it’s published articles are clearly indicated by being labeled either “News” or “Opinion”. When looking at the articles, I can see the author clearly states their sources and they are able to be accessed and verified from another source. When evaluating the articles, we see the story does often let us know when the news sources are local. For example, one article in particular discusses “Planned Parenthood Arizona”, “Arizona Law” and “Pima County Court”, all local sources. Arizona Daily Independent News Network states on their website that they do not accept government subsidies and that “Truth is not conservative or liberal, it is the truth.” Arizona Daily Independent does accept guest opinions for publications because “Arizona Daily Independent offers original reporting or news that matters to you”. They also allow comments as a way to facilitate a free exchange of ideas, tips and comments. Policies and Standards are listed and described in the about us area of the website.
It is my determination that the Arizona Daily Independent News Network site is producing true journalism in service to the public interest and is a reliable source of information.
Present Trust Indicators:
- The Journalist is an expert
- You can see clearly what the purpose is
- You can find and access sources
- It has used local knowledge
- The organization shows they care about the Trust Indicators by explaining their policies and standards.
The Arizona Mirror displays 6 out of the 8 Trust Indicators. All reporters along with their history and backgrounds are listed on the about page. They all appear to be experienced and professional and reporting on areas they are familiar with. Some articles on the Arizona Mirror site are labeled as ‘commentary’ or ‘brief’ and all are categorized by topics, this way we know what the purpose of each article is. The sources are clear and often linked in the articles so we can fact check for ourselves and see that they are reliable and accurate. The reporters and authors have local knowledge and they are all involved or familiar with their community and the topics they are reporting on. The Arizona Mirror website has a wide range of diverse perspectives. The organization shows their policies and standards under the About pages, DEIJ Policy, Ethics Policy and a Creative Commons license.
It is my determination that the Arizona Mirror site is also dedicated to producing true journalism in service to the public interest and is a reliable source of information.