For Your Classroom
The 8 Trust Indicators® can be a great tool to add to lesson plans on identifying trustworthy sources and discerning real journalism from imposters. Below are some materials that can get you started.
The Trust Indicators and their attributes, explained (coming soon)
The Trust Indicators: The eight Trust Indicators handout (The Trust Project)
En Español: Los 8 Indicadores de Confianza
How to Identify Trustworthy News handout (The Economist Educational Foundation)
Lesson Plan for Undergraduate Libraries (Santa Clara University)
Newsroom Transparency Tracker (PEN America, The Trust Project)
Videos: Know what you’re sharing
For Your Newsroom
Learn our principles and inquire about implementing the Trust Indicators®.
Trust Indicator® Research
Digital Media Cognition and Attention Lab
Center for Media Engagement
User Research
United States – Native Research
External Resources
Below we’ve collected some highly regarded, useful polls and other research on trust in the news and related trends.
Reporting Across a Pluralistic Society
Need help with your diversity or anti-racism efforts? Check out the Democracy Foundation’s Journalism DEI Wheel (2021) for some ideas.
International Women’s Media Foundation Training:
https://www.iwmf.org/programs/hefat-training/
On nourishing media pluralism, with diverse peoples and ideas: UNESCO
Combatting Misinformation
Research on Trust
We’ve collected some highly regarded, useful polls and other research on trust in the news and related trends.
INMA
INMA “Trust in Media Resources” Section (2023)
Gallup
News Media Viewed as Biased but Crucial to Democracy (2020)
Americans Say it’s Important for the News Media to Reflect Diversity (2020)
American Views 2020: Trust, Media and Democracy (2020)
U.S Media Trust Continues to Recover (2018)
Trust in Media Returns to All-Time Low (2016)
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
Digital News Report (2023)
Journalism, Media and Technology Trends and Predictions (2023)
Polarization and the News Media in Europe
Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism
Mercenarios Digitales (2023)
The 8 Trust Indicators®
Los 8 Indicadores de Confianza Descargar
We asked people what they look for in trusted media – and from their answers, we created ‘Trust Indicators’ for the press to build into news sites.
Best Practices
- Who funds the site? What is its mission?
- What standards and ethics guide the process of gathering news?
- What happens if a journalist has ties to the topic covered?
Journalist Expertise
- Who made this?
- Are there details about the journalist, including contact information, areas of knowledge and other stories they’ve worked on?
Type of Work
- What is this?
- Do you see story labels with clear definitions to distinguish opinion, analysis, and advertiser (or paid) content from news reports?
References
- What is the source?
- Does the site tell you where it got its information? For investigative, controversial, or in-depth stories, are you given access to the original materials behind the facts and assertions?
Methods
- Why was it a priority?
- For investigations, in-depth or controversial stories, why did they pursue the topic?
- How did they go about the process?
Locally Sourced
- Do they know the community?
- Was the reporting done on the scene?
- Is there evidence of deep knowledge about the local situation or community?
Diverse Voices
- What are the newsroom’s efforts and commitments to bring in diverse perspectives across social, ideological and demographic differences?
- Are some communities or perspectives included only in stereotypical ways, or even completely missing?
Actionable Feedback
- What does the site do to engage your help in setting coverage priorities, asking good questions and finding the answers, holding powerful people and institutions accountable and ensuring accuracy?
- Can you provide feedback that might provoke, alter or expand a story?
© 2016 The Trust Project
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