NewsTrust was a non-profit news network that operated a web site where users were able to reference news stories, rate those stories according to quality ofjournalism, post reviews, and add stories they found worthwhile. It was operated and co-founded by formerWikimedia Foundation staff member, Fabrice Florin.[1][2]
NewsTrust was first presented as an idea viaMoveOn.org, in which MoveOn co-founderWes Boyd expressed concern about "traditional media...losing" its way. He recruited Fabrice Florin, then CEO of cellular content providerHandtap Communications, to run the effort as part of NewsTrust Communications ofMill Valley, California.[3] Users and editors of the NewsTrust website would rate news stories on a daily basis as to whether they were "news you can trust."[4] The site was launched in a basic mode in May 2005.[5]
In 2011, NewsTrust piloted aBaltimore-specific site focused on news local to the Baltimore area. NewsTrust launched in Baltimore due to its proximity to theOpen Society Institute's Baltimore offices, and hired a former editor of theBaltimore Sun, Mary Hartney, as the editor.[6] The Baltimore pilot ended six months after it was launched, although user-submitted content continued to be posted,[7][8] and the NewsTrust mission shifted to a more "fact-checking service"-based model for the 2012 election.[1]
From June 2012 until the website went offline, NewsTrust was owned and operated byThe Poynter Institute.[2]
NewsTrust had many media partners, includingHuffington Post,PolitiFact and theWashington Post[9] and advisers includingHoward Rheingold ofStanford University and Craig Newmark ofCraigslist. NewsTrust also received financial donations from nonprofit foundations and private donors, including a $500,000 grant from the MacArthur Foundation in 2008[10] and Omidyar Network in 2010.[11]
In support of general operations (over three years).