Reviewer FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Here are some frequently asked questions about our review and posting forms. If you still have questions, .
Who is this FAQ for?
This FAQ is for NewsTrust reviewers. Anyone can review stories on NewsTrust, as long as they are a member. To become a member, simply sign up (if you already are a member, be sure to
log in). This FAQ contains helpful tips about reviewing and posting stories.
For more info, check our other help FAQs:
| for questions about joining NewsTrust and getting started | |
| for questions about viewing and editing our member profiles | |
| for questions about your MyNews and My Network pages | |
| for questions about our story and source edit forms |
How can I make a suggestion or report a problem? To help us improve our service, please click "Suggestions" on the left sidebar of our site, or at the bottom of any of our forms. To email us about issues that need to be fixed right away email us at . Thanks for your patience during this beta phase.
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How do I review a story on NewsTrust? To review a story, click on the 'Review' link next to any story title on our site. This will open the story on the news site, along with our toolbar and review form. (In some cases, the story and our review form will show in separate windows, for news sites that do not support our toolbar.)
How does the review form work? The NewsTrust review form is like an online score pad, with a series of questions about the news story you are reviewing. Answer as many questions as you like, write a short note if you choose, then press 'Done' when you're finished.
We have different review forms for news stories (e.g. news reports, news analysis and special reports), and for opinion pieces (e.g. editorials, commentary and interviews). For either of these, you can choose to fill out one of these forms: short, Quick, Full or Advanced.
- Short Review Form (3 questions)
- Quick Review Form (5 questions)
- Full Review Form (10 questions)
- Advanced Review Form (18 questions)
To change between the Short, Quick, Full and Advanced Review forms, simply click the drop-down menu to the right of 'Rate this news report' and select which questions you feel most comfortable answering.
What are the steps to review a story? To review a story, follow these simple steps:
- Read this story
- Rate this story
- Save your review
1. Read this Story
Carefully read, watch or listen to the entire story before starting your review. Focus on the quality of the journalism, rather than whether you agree or disagree with the perspectives presented in the story.
If you do not see a story in your Web browser, click on the story’s title at the top of our review form. This will open a new window, showing the story from its original website.
To see reviews from other members for this story, click on the 'Reviews' link below the story title in our review form.
2. Rate this Story
Next, answer a few questions about the quality of this story. These questions ask how well a story fulfilled the core principles of journalism, such as accuracy, fairness and context.
The questions you see on the review will vary depending on which version you choose to fill out. Click on the question marks
next to any question title for help tips.
At the end of your review, you may explain the rating you gave in the note section, or add a comment about your personal views on the subject. You may also include your favorite quotes from the story, and support your review with a related link.
3. Post your Review
When you're finished, click "Done" at the bottom of the review form.
You will then see our story reviews page, where you can read reviews for that story from other NewsTrust members, as well as your own review.
You can edit your own review anytime, by simply clicking on 'Review' in our story reviews page or in our story listing pages.
Rating Tips Here are detailed explanations of each of the rating questions on the different NewsTrust review forms:
Short Review Form The Mini Review Form is our shortest review form. It asks you three simple questions about the quality of the story you're reviewing. Note that our review forms ask different questions for news and opinion.
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Facts
Q. Is this story factual?
Is it based on verifiable evidence? or opinions?
Does this story provide factual information to support what it says? Or does this sound like someone’s personal views? Presenting reliable facts is the most important and the most basic aspect of good journalism. Everything in a news story revolves around the facts it contains. News that is based on accurate, verifiable facts helps give us well-informed citizens and a strong democracy. News that is based largely on opinions can be polarizing and takes away from healthy public debate.
Fairness
Q. Is this story fair?
Is it impartial? or biased?
Is the reporter presenting all sides of the story? Or does he or she take sides? It is a journalist’s responsibility to seek out all angles of a controversy. This doesn’t mean that every side must be given the same amount of space in a story. But it should be clear that the reporter offered all the key players in the story a chance to make their core arguments, or choose not to comment. If it is not, then the story’s fairness will suffer. It is not a journalist’s job to decide who is 'right' or 'wrong,' but present all sides fairly so we can come to our own conclusions.
Recommendation
Q. Do you recommend this story?
Is this quality journalism?
Would you recommend this story to a friend or colleague? Is this information you think they should know, based on the questions you just answered? Was it good enough for you to read it through the end? This question is similar to the up and down arrows of popular social news sites like Digg and Reddit, but with a focus on quality journalism.
My Overall Rating As you answer rating questions in this review form, your average rating for this story is dynamically updated and shown at the bottom of the ratings section. (see below to find out how this weighted average is calculated). Note that you can change your overall rating at any time, by clicking different values for each question, until you are satisfied that your average rating represents your own evaluation of that story's journalistic quality.
Notes
Q. Is this quality journalism? Why?
How well does this story inform the public on this issue? What does this story do well? How could it be improved? Focus on the journalism and the quality of the information. If you have personal views on this subject, you may write them in the comments section below.
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Insight
Q. Is it insightful?
Is it well reasoned? thoughtful?
Does this story give an intelligent perspective on the subject? Are the author's arguments well-supported and logical? An insightful story 'connects the dots' to explain things that aren't immediately obvious. In doing so, it draws reasonable conclusions that may include effective solutions to a given problem.
Information
Q. Is this story informative?
Did you learn something new?
Do the facts in this story help you better understand the subject? Good journalism takes information that isn’t readily available to us, and may be hard to interpret, and makes it quicker and easier to understand. This question asks how well a news story does that. To answer it thoroughly, you may want to compare this story to other stories on the same topic (see 'Links' in our Story Reviews page).
Quick Review Form The Quick Review Form asks 5 simple questions, based on core principles of journalism. Note that the review form for news is different from the review form for opinion, since the quality standards are different for each.
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Sourcing
Q. Is this story well sourced?
Is it confirmed by multiple sources?
Does this story provide enough sources to validate its key information? Are the sources clearly identified? Count the number of sources cited: a good news story usually includes several sources with independent perspectives, both official and unofficial. The author should establish why each source is cited – and if they're anonymous, explain why. Many news stories would not have the same impact without anonymous sources, but they must be used carefully.
Credibility
Q. Is this publication credible?
Do you trust this news source?
Does this publication usually offer reliable information? Is it trustworthy, based on the stories you've reviewed and what you know about the publisher? Credibility tracks a publication's reputation for journalistic quality, which helps it maintain a good dialogue with its audience. Note that your rating for that question will be automatically filled-in next time you review a story from this publication.
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Style
Q. Is it well written?
Is this story clear? concise? compelling?
Does it present useful information in an interesting way? Does it make complex issues easier to understand? Is the style appropriate for the topic? Is it grammatical? The way a story is written and presented impacts how many people it reaches.
Full Review Form The Full Review form asks 10 questions: the same four questions as the Quick Review form, plus six more. For news, we look at some of the more complex principles of journalism, such as depth and sourcing. For opinion, we ask deeper questions about how well the author made his or her case.
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Depth
Q. Is it in-depth?
Is it well researched?
How much research went into this story? How thoroughly is the information explained? How detailed is the reporting? Depth looks at the overall amount of reporting that went into a story, and how much of that reporting was published. This often varies for different story types. For example, we should expect a good investigative report on a city's homicide rate to be more in-depth than a breaking news story on a shooting.
Enterprise
Q. Is it enterprising?
Does this story show initiative? courage?
Did the author or publication take risks gathering and publishing this story? Were significant resources involved? Enterprise journalism (also called investigative reporting) uncovers major information through extensive research – not based on a mere press release or public statement. Enterprise journalism is gutsy, proactive and represents a substantial investment on the part of the author and/or the publication.
Relevance
Q. Is it relevant?
Is this story newsworthy? meaningful?
Does the author focus on important aspects of this topic? Does the public benefit by reading this story? News organizations and journalists must always ask what information is most valuable for the public interest. Relevant news and opinion help citizens participate more informed decisions. Sensationalism, exaggeration and false importance in journalism distract us from these goals.
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Expertise
Q. Are experts cited?
Are the sources qualified? knowledgeable?
Does this story cite credible experts with unique knowledge of the facts? A good news story, or a well argued opinion, usually seeks out authoritative sources confirm or explain key information. Independent sources whose view might not be influenced by a stake in the story are particularly valuable.
Originality
Q. Is it original?
Does this story offer a new perspective?
Does the author break new ground that hasn't been covered elsewhere? Originality applies to both news and opinion in this sense. An original news article gives us information we wouldn't have been able to learn on our own. It can also tell a familiar story in a new way. An original opinion piece brings up valuable perspectives and arguments about an issue that aren't already in the public discussion. Since this is a comparative question, it's helpful to know what other publications have said about the issue.
Responsibility
Q. Is it responsible?
Are claims valid, ethical, unbiased?
Is the author acting responsibly, respectfully and with integrity? Or is this story based on rumors, errors or falsehoods that jeopardize the public interest? If journalists are to be guardians of democracy and good government, they must lead by example – requiring greater ethical standards than other types of communication, such as propaganda or entertainment.
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Advanced Review Form The Advanced Review contains the same questions from the Quick and Full Review forms, plus nine more. These questions ask you to rate the story as a professional would, looking at qualities such as transparency and verification. The questions are the same for news and opinion.
Accuracy
Q. Is it accurate?
Can you confirm that it is true?
Have you yourself verified some of the facts and observations in this story? If so, did you find that information to be correct? If not, are you confident that the information has been verified? To answer this question, you may want to do some of your own research, and look at how other publications covered this story. If you do not know anything about this topic and do not have time to research it, please do not answer this question.
Balance
Q. Is it balanced?
Does this story represent diverse viewpoints?
Are the key parties affected by this story cited by the author? Balance involves presenting different perspectives on an issue, with the same care and respect for all sides. But it has its limits. A good news story does not include misinformation from one side in the name of balance. It looks at all sides of an issue, without abandoning its focus on verified facts and information.
Transparency
Q. Is it transparent?
Are there enough links and references?
Can you tell how the story was gathered? How well does the author inform readers about how the information in the story was collected? As a rule, all sources should be named; links to factual evidence should be provided; third-party studies and reports should be cited; and reporting methods should be documented.
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Q. How can I learn more about quality journalism?
To create our review form and this FAQ, we worked with many advisors, which include experienced journalists from reputable organizations such as the Associated Press, Journalism.org and the Poynter Institute. We also analyzed the principles and values of top news organizations, from the BBC to Gannett and the Society of Professional Journalists. Here are links to some of their editorial guidelines and codes of ethics:
- Journalism.org
- Center for Citizen Media
- The New York Times
- The Poynter Institute
- Columbia School of Journalism
- Radio-Television News Directors Association
- American Journalism Review
- The Christian Science Monitor
- American Society of Newspaper Editors
- British Journalism Review
- Society of Professional Journalists
More Review Questions At the end of the review form, you will find these four sections: Comments, Links, Quotes and About You. Click on any of these blue tabs to share your views, link to related information, pick your favorite quotes or tell us more about yourself. These sections are optional, but the more questions you answer, the more your ratings count.
Comments
Q. What are your personal views on this topic?
What did you learn from this story? What new information and insights did you come away with? This question is available for you to expand on your notes from the previous section, which focuses only on the quality of the journalism. Here, you are free to include your own perspectives on the issues raised in this story – which keeps your personal opinions separate from your notes about the journalism. Please be civil and keep your comments under 250 words.
Links
Connect the dots with related information
This section lets you add links to related stories or factual evidence, either supporting or refuting this story's main points. If you know of a good article, study, website, or other information that relates to this story, please cut and paste their web address in the URL box. NewsTrust will examine that URL and try to extract its title, publication name and date, then post it as a pending story on our site. Your link will automatically be added in the Links section of this story's reviews page. After you complete your review, you may edit the title or the story info by going to that Links section. These links help us compare the information in the story to facts from other sources. They can also be used to help support key points in your review.
Quotes
Pick your favorite excerpts
If there were any short quotes in the story that you found particularly interesting, insightful or revealing, include them here. This could be a statement made by the author – or a comment from a newsmaker quoted in the story. Simply cut and paste your selected excerpt from the story, then add a comment below it. You might like to let us know why you selected that quote: do you find it informative? inspiring? misleading? inaccurate? Please keep all excerpts and comments under 250 words. This will help you share with other members parts of the story you find most important.
About You This section lets you share a bit more about yourself, by answering some important questions that will help us weigh your review more effectively. It will also help you increase your member level and build your reputation in our community. The more of these questions you answer, the more your ratings will count.
Knowledge
Q. How much do you know about this?
Are you informed about this topic?
How much did you personally know about this topic, before reviewing this story? How much information did you already have on this subject? Your knowledge could be specific to the event or issue, or more general (e.g., familiarity with similar topics).
Disclosure
Q. Are you the author of this story? or involved in it?
If you are the author, publisher or subject of a story (or otherwise personally involved in that story), please check the disclosure field of our review form to indicate any conflict of interest you might have as reviewer for this story. Use the drop down menu at the bottom of the review form to indicate the type of involvement you had in this story. Also clarify that involvment in your review notes, for transparency reasons. We ask that you rate these stories fairly, and refrain from manipulating our ratings for personal, ideological or commercial purposes. If you disclose that you are the author, editor or publisher, your rating will not be included in our overall rating for that story.
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Focus on the journalism We aim to rate articles based on their journalistic quality, not whether we agree with the views presented in these articles. It's not always easy to separate the two, but it's worth a try: we often get the best information when we go past our pre-conceived ideas about an article, to look at how it was created.
Be civil When writing your comments, be civil, thoughtful, concise, and respectful of others. From time to time, you'll see a review you disagree with; try to respond in a way that is not offensive to other members. Please treat people with the same respect you would like them to show you, and adhere to our terms of service. Deceptive, manipulative or offensive reviews may be removed at NewsTrust's discretion and can lead to termination of your membership. Thank you for your understanding.
Rating Weights NewsTrust story ratings are weighted in three successive steps, to insure their reliability.
We first weigh your answers based on the significance of each rating question for evaluating journalistic quality, based on findings from our research studies. At this time, we use these weights for all stories:
- Facts: 8 (News), 8 (Opinion)
- Fairness: 6 (News), 6 (Opinion)
- Information: 10 (News), 10 (Opinion)
- Insight: 5 (News), 5 (Opinion)
- Sourcing: 5 (News), 5 (Opinion)
- Style: 4 (News), 4 (Opinion)
- Accuracy: 6 (News), 6 (Opinion)
- Balance: 4 (News), 4 (Opinion)
- Context: 10 (News), 10 (Opinion)
- Depth: 4 (News), 4 (Opinion)
- Enterprise: 4 (News), 4 (Opinion)
- Expertise: 4 (News), 4 (Opinion)
- Originality: 3 (News), 3 (Opinion)
- Relevance: 3 (News), 3 (Opinion)
- Transparency: 3 (News), 3 (Opinion)
- Responsibility: 1 (News), 1 (Opinion)
- Your Rating: 60%
- Number of Answers: 20%
- Topic Knowledge: 4%
- Member Ratings for your Review: 16%
Lastly, we factor in your own member level, in order to determine a final, triple-weighted rating for each reviewed story. To find out more about how member levels are calculated, check our Member FAQ.
Why does my browser look different? When you open a review form, NewsTrust resizes your browser window, and opens a second story window. This lets you see our review form on the left, with the full story on the right. It is easier to review a story when you can read our questions right next to the full text of the story. To make both windows fill each side of your screen, click on the "Optimize" button, at the bottom of the review form. To close this review form and restore your original browser settings, simply click on any of these buttons in the review form: "Save," "Cancel". This will close the story window, and reset your browser window to its original size. In future versions of this service, we plan to offer customization options for this review form.
What if I can't see the story? If you do not see a story on the right, click on "Full Story" next to its title on our review form. This will open a new window, showing the story from its original web site. If the wrong story appears in that window, please email us at . One of the reasons we show stories in a separate window is to protect the copyrights of their owners.
How can I switch review forms? To use the Full Review form, simply click on the "Full Review" button at the bottom of the Quick Review form. You will now see all the Full Review options in the navigation bar at the top. To switch back to Quick Review, click on the "Quick Review" button in the same location. This is a site-wide setting, and you can toggle back and forth as often as you like between Quick and Full Review. Customized forms and content-specific forms are being planned for the next version of the service.
How can I close a review form? To close your review form, click on "Save" at the bottom of the review form at any time. Your review will be save, and you will go back to the NewsTrust page you came from. At the same time, your browser window will be resized to its original settings and the story window will be closed. If you don't want to save your review, simply press "Exit" at the top of the form.
How can I share my review on Facebook. If you're signed in to NewsTrust through Facebook Connect, you can share your review on Facebook. Make sure the "Share my review on Facebook" check box just above the Done button is checked. Then give your permission in any Facebook pop-up window that may appear.
If you are editing an earlier review that you have already shared (by checking the "Share" check box), there will be a note letting you know. You're free to share again if you like.
What is a Guest Review? If you are a not yet a NewsTrust member, you can still review or post a story as a guest. After you save your review, you will be asked to sign up as a member. Once you sign up, your review will be published on our site. If you already are a member but forgot to log in, you can also enter a guest review, then click on 'Log In' to publish your review. To prevent spam, all guest reviews will remain hidden until you either sign up or log in. If you save several guest reviews for the same story, you will be asked to pick one when you sign up or log in.
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How do I post a new story? To post a story for review on NewsTrust, click on the yellow "Post a Story" button in our navigation bar. Copy the web address of the story you want to post and paste it into the URL box. Once you do this, the NewsTrust Toolbar and Edit form will automatically appear over the story's original page. Some of the information for that story will automatically be filled in by our Smart Feeds service, but we encourage you to double check them, to make sure they're correct, and fill in the other fields (story title, quote, authors, story type, topics, etc). After you Save the information, you can review the story by clicking on the Review tab.
To quickly post a story from anywhere on the web, get our Bookmarklet.
What kinds of stories can I post? You can post any English-language news item that is available online and that concerns the public interest. Check our topics page for a list of subjects that we are most interested in covering. We welcome posts from a wide range of publications (e.g., blogs, newspapers, radio and TV) and story types (e.g., news reports, opinions). We discourage posts that are primarily of an entertainment or sensational nature, such as celebrity coverage, or tabloid news. Please don't post stories that are exact duplicates of items already reviewed on NewsTrust. You can post as many stories as you like, as long as they fit the guidelines above.
How do I delete a story I posted? To delete a story that was posted in error, please email us at .
URL Cut and paste the web address (or URL) of the story you are posting. If a print page or printer-friendly address is available for this story, enter it instead of the main address. The less cluttered the page, the easier it will be to review. Some fields in the posting form are automatically filled in after you enter the URL. Please make sure they're correct.
Story Title Enter the title or headline of your story. If the story does not have a title, please cut and paste the first sentence of the story (without the date, place or author name). Story titles that exceed 80 characters may be truncated. If there is a subtitle, you may enter it below.
Quote Copy and paste a quote or description for this story. Select a quote that summarizes the main point of the story, if possible. If you're not sure, select the first paragraph of the story, omitting the source byline, date or location. Quotes that exceed 100 words will be automatically truncated.
Authors Copy and paste the names of the journalists that originally authored this story, if available. If more than one author, separate each of their full names with a comma (First name and Last name, then comma). Please use Initial Caps for names rather than all UPPER CASE or all lower case (Example: Edward R. Murrow).
Story Type Select a story type from the drop-down menu in our Edit form. Options include: news report, special report, opinion, editorial, etc. If the story does not fit any of these options, select "Other" from the drop-down menu.
Story Type (quick and short edit forms) Select a story type from by clickong on one of the three radio buttons in our Edit form. Options include: News, Opinion, and Other.
Source Type in the original publication name for this story, in our publication text box. Once you select a media type for your source, this drop-down menu will change to only show publication names for your selected media type. If your publication name does not appear in our drop-down menu, select 'Other' to type it in yourself in a special text box.
Topic Type in the main topic for the story you are posting, in our topic text box.
Date Select the story's original publication date from our drop-down menu, which goes back 90 days. If the correct date is not available, select the earliest available date. We will soon offer a more sophisticated date selection method.
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How do I add a comment? Some NewsTrust members can add comments on any story page – and in select topic pages. To add your comments to these pages, click the "Comments" link below the page description or simply scroll to the bottom of the page. Type your comment in the 'Add a Comment' box (you have up to 2,000 characters per comment) and click "Save" when you're done. Your comment will appear above. You can also add a reply to an existing comment by clicking "Reply". You are free to edit you comment or reply for 30 minutes after posting it, after which editing will be disabled. (For more info about which topic pages are open for comments and who can comment, check the next questions on this FAQ).
How can I tell if a page is open for comments? All pages that are open for comments have a "Comments" link below their page description. Click on that link to jump to the comments section of that page. All story pages are open for comments, but only a few topic pages are open for comments in this beta phase. In the future we will open up more topic and subject pages for comments, as well as source pages.
Who can comment Commenting is open to all members with a level of 2 or more. To learn more about member levels, see our Member FAQ.
How do I flag a comment? If you find a comment abusive, offensive or in breach of our terms of service, please alert our staff by flagging it. Simply click "Flag" next to the comment in question. NewsTrust staff will receive immediate notification (as will the topic host if the comment appears on a topic page). NewsTrust staff will review the flagged comment and may remove it if they find it inappropriate.
Do not flag a comment simply because you disagree with its author. In order to qualify for removal, a comment must explicitly violate our terms of service. If you feel your comment has been unfairly removed, contact NewsTrust staff at .
How do I turn off email notifications for comments? There are several different types of email notifications we send out pertaining to comments. For example, when someone replies to a comment you made. For more information about these notifications and how to turn them off, see our Member FAQ.
You didn't answer my question in this FAQ! What now? Please send your additional questions, ideas and thoughts to . We appreciate your interest in NewsTrust and your patience during this beta phase.
For more information about using NewsTrust, check our other help FAQs:
| for questions about joining NewsTrust and getting started | |
| for questions about viewing and editing our member profiles | |
| for questions about your MyNews and My Network pages | |
| for questions about our story and source edit forms |
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