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NewsGuard

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NewsGuard
Developer(s)NewsGuard Technologies, Inc.
Initial releaseMarch 2018; 6 years ago (2018-03)
Stable release
Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari:
4.1.1 (Edge) / April 5, 2022; 2 years ago (2022-04-05)[1]
PlatformBrowser extension
TypeBrowser extension
LicenseProprietary
Websitewww.newsguardtech.com

NewsGuard is a rating system for news and information websites. It is accessible via browser extensions and mobile apps. According to NewsGuard, its team of "expert journalists" score publishers on a scale of 0–100 based on whether they have transparent finances or publish many errors, among other criteria.[2] NewsGuard Technologies Inc., the company behind the tool, also provides services such as misinformation tracking and brand safety for advertisers, search engines, social media platforms, cybersecurity firms, and government agencies.[3][4]

History

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NewsGuard Technologies was founded in 2018 by Steven Brill and L. Gordon Crovitz, who serve as co-CEOs.[5] Crovitz was a former publisher of The Wall Street Journal.[2] In 2018, Joyce Purnick, former bureau chief and editor at The New York Times, and Amy Westfeldt, an editor with the Associated Press for 25 years, joined Newsguard.[6]

In April 2019, the co-founders of NewsGuard announced that they had entered talks with British internet service providers to incorporate their credibility scoring system into consumer internet packages. Under the plans, a user would see a warning message before visiting a misleading site without needing to have the NewsGuard extension installed. Users would also have the ability to disable the feature.[7]

In January 2020, NewsGuard began notifying users that it would become a paid, member-supported browser extension in early 2020, while remaining free for libraries and schools. Early adopters received a 33% discount on the price, paying $1.95/month (USD) or £1.95/month (UK). They plan to roll out new premium features, including a reliability score, and offer new mobile apps for Android and iOS.[8]

Company structure

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NewsGuard is based in New York City.[9] It raised $6 million in 2018.[10] Investors include the Knight Foundation, Publicis, and former Reuters executive Tom Glocer.[11][12] Its advisors include former officials such as Tom Ridge (former Secretary of Homeland Security), Richard Stengel (former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs), Michael Hayden (former director fo the CIA), Anders Fogh Rasmussen (former Secretary General of NATO), and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales.[13][7]

Products and services

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As of 2019, the company employed 35 journalists to review over 2,000 news sites. Ratings are broken down in terms of reliability, trustworthiness, and financial conflict of interest. This and additional information is then displayed in the form of a "Nutrition Label" by the NewsGuard browser extension whenever a user visits a news site. Sites that pass are shown with a green icon next to their name. Those with low scores are shown with a red icon. Research has shown that readers who see the green icon find the corresponding news site more accurate and trustworthy compared to those who see no icon or a red icon.[13][14] Brill positions the extension as an alternative to government regulation and automated algorithms, such as those used by Facebook.[13] NewsGuard attempts to advise sites that it labels as unreliable on how to come into compliance with its rating criteria.[15]

Supported systems

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NewsGuard operates a consumer-facing browser extension[9] and mobile apps for iOS and Android.[16] Supported browsers for the browser extension include Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, and Safari. It is included by default in the mobile version of Edge, although users must enable it.[16]

Business model and reach

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For revenue, NewsGuard Technologies licenses their ratings. Clients include technology companies and the advertising industry, who view the ratings as a way to protect clients against advertising on sites that could harm their brand.[11] It also contracts with the United States Department of Defense.[17][18] NewsGuard expanded its coverage to news in European languages such as French and German ahead of the 2019 European Parliament election.[19][20] As of January 2021, NewsGuard said it has rated more than 6,000 news sites that account for 95% of online engagement with news in the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany and Italy.[21] In January 2022, the company said it was profitable, having doubled its revenue over the last year.[10]

In 2024, The Daily Wire, The Federalist, and Texas sued the Department of State arguing that it does not have the authority to give a $25,000 grant to tools like NewsGuard that could "render disfavored press outlets unprofitable".[22][additional citation(s) needed] The Biden administration sought to have the case dismissed but federal judge Jeremy Kernodle agreed with the plaintiff and allowed the case to proceed.[22][needs update] Republican politicians in the U.S. House of Representatives opened a probe into Newsguard in June 2024.[2]

Ratings

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NewsGuard's founders cautioned that its "Nutrition Label" should not be treated as an endorsement equivalent to the nutrition facts label from the Food and Drug Administration.[11] As of June 2024, Newsguard rated Fox News at 69.5, Breitbart News at 49.5, the The New Republic at 92.5, Mother Jones at 69.5, and The Washington Post at 100.[23] It also recently downgraded the The New York Times from 100 to 87.5 for not distinguishing clearly enough between opinion and fact.[23] CEO L. Gordon Crovitz argued: "Under NewsGuard's apolitical rating system, many conservative outlets outscore similar left-leaning brands: The Daily Caller outscores The Daily Beast, the Daily Wire outscores the Daily Kos, Fox News outscores MSNBC and The Wall Street Journal outscores the New York Times."[2] Sites that had previously ignored the extension, such as MailOnline, objected to being listed as unreliable.[24] The decision to list MailOnline as unreliable was reversed in 2019, and NewsGuard admitted they were wrong on some counts.[25]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ NewsGuard Technologies. "NewsGuard for Microsoft Edge". Microsoft Store. Archived from the original on April 14, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d Fortinsky, Sarah (June 13, 2024). "James Comer investigating news-rating group NewsGuard". The Hill. Archived from the original on August 8, 2024. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
  3. ^ Mayhew, Freddy (October 29, 2019). "News websites rated 'red' by Newsguard could miss out on ad money after agency deal". Press Gazette. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  4. ^ "NSIN Post | NSIN | #52Weeks: Countering Disinformation". UNUM. Archived from the original on November 29, 2020. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  5. ^ Stelter, Brian (March 4, 2018). "This start-up wants to evaluate your news sources". CNN Business. Archived from the original on June 11, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  6. ^ Calderone, Michael (April 19, 2018). "Fox-run state? — Harper's editor fired — NewsGuard expands — Tampa Bay Times cuts — Katy Perry wants WaPo". Politico. Archived from the original on July 8, 2024. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Waterson, Jim (April 24, 2019). "Untrustworthy news sites could be flagged automatically in UK". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on July 3, 2024. Retrieved December 31, 2019.
  8. ^ Mayhew, Freddy (January 9, 2020). "News website rating tool Newsguard to start charging for service". Press Gazette. Archived from the original on January 9, 2020. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  9. ^ a b Perlow, Jason (March 24, 2020). "NewsGuard drops its paywall to combat coronavirus misinformation". ZDNet. Archived from the original on November 26, 2020. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  10. ^ a b Stelter, Brian (January 16, 2022). "A startup that rates the reliability of news sources says it's making a profit". CNN. Archived from the original on June 28, 2024. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
  11. ^ a b c Lee, Edmund (January 16, 2019). "Veterans of the News Business Are Now Fighting Fakes". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 17, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  12. ^ Li, Kenneth (February 1, 2019). "NewsGuard's 'real news' seal of approval helps spark change in fake news era". Reuters. Archived from the original on April 27, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  13. ^ a b c Lapowski, Issie (August 23, 2018). "NewsGuard Wants to Fight Fake News With Humans, Not Algorithms". Wired.com. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  14. ^ Morgan, David (March 5, 2018). "New venture aims to combat "fake news" on social media with warning labels". CBS News. Archived from the original on January 24, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  15. ^ Atkinson, Claire (August 24, 2018). "NewsGuard gives Fox News a thumbs up, Breitbart a thumbs down". NBC News. Archived from the original on January 24, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  16. ^ a b Perlow, Jason (May 14, 2020). "NewsGuard becomes free for all Microsoft Edge users". ZDNet. Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  17. ^ "Contract to NewsGuard Technologies, Inc". USASpending.gov. Archived from the original on August 16, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  18. ^ "Newsguard Technologies Contracts (DoD)". MuckRock. June 9, 2022. Archived from the original on December 3, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  19. ^ Maurer, Jacob (February 22, 2019). "A certifier for media credibility?". Süddeutsche Zeitung. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  20. ^ "NewsGuard's "news trust" ratings rolled out to Europe". European Journalism Observatory. June 6, 2019. Archived from the original on September 6, 2019.
  21. ^ "Startups battle the spread of fake news during the pandemic | PitchBook". pitchbook.com. Archived from the original on September 22, 2020. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  22. ^ a b Raymond, Nate (May 8, 2024). "Texas' lawsuit claiming US helped censor conservative news can proceed". Reuters.
  23. ^ a b Wagner, Laura (June 30, 2024). "A lifelong media maven grapples with the misinformation crisis". The Washington Post.
  24. ^ "Daily Mail demands browser warning U-turn". BBC News. January 23, 2019. Archived from the original on January 23, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  25. ^ Walker, James. "'We were wrong': US news rating tool boosts Mail Online trust ranking after talks with unnamed Daily Mail exec". Press Gazette. Archived from the original on February 12, 2019. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
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