NewsGuard

EBLIDA and NewsGuard working together for the attainment of UN SDG 16, Sub-Target 10:
Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms

Agencies specialized in misinformation circulate fake news in their attempts to influence opinions. Secret service agencies detect fake news and retaliate. This is called information warfare.

 

Libraries do not wage wars. They diffuse certified information based on reliable sources. They contribute to the development of an informed and responsible citizenry and strive towards an equitable, democratic and sustainable society. And they may tie partnerships with private firms whose corporate responsibility also address societal issues.

EBLIDA and NewsGuard allied to attain the UN Sustainable Development Goals 16, Sub-Target 10: Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements.

EBLIDA’s mission is, among others, the promotion of freedom of information and free access to information, education and culture for all citizens in Europe. NewsGuard is a private firm with the mission of combating false news, misinformation and disinformation by doing what librarians have been doing since the invention of libraries: blocking nothing but providing information about everything.

How does it work?

There are algorithms which can detect fake news articles. NewsGuard does not work on text, but on context. NewsGuard provides credibility ratings and detailed “Nutrition Label” reviews for the news and information websites that account for 90% of online engagement with news in each country in which it operates (France, Germany, Italy, the U.K., and the U.S., with more coming soon). The ratings are conducted by trained analysts from diverse backgrounds, who review and describe the websites’ adherence to nine journalistic criteria. Each news website receives a Green or Red rating. According to NewsGuard, Green-Red ratings signal if a website generally is diffusing accurate and correct information or knowingly publishes falsehood and propaganda. All of these ratings and reviews can be accessed from a browser extension, available for Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge.

The EBLIDA Newsletter has gone under NewsGuard’s scrutiny. You can access the EBLIDA Newsletter “Nutrition Label”. On the basis of NewsGuard’s suggestions we are changing EBLIDA Newsletter’s policy, starting from the January 2020 issue.

Why trust NewsGuard?

NewsGuard is an apolitical organization that operates with full transparency. Its leadership and staff are trained journalists from diverse backgrounds who have spent their careers dedicated to the profession. They rate each site using the same nine criteria, which are basic, established principles of reliable journalism. All criteria are applied equally to all publishers regardless of their size or political orientation, if any.

To read more about NewsGuard’s commitment to fairness and trust, visit this page: https://www.newsguardtech.com/about/why-should-you-trust-us/

Why is NewsGuard a private company?

NewsGuard’s founders chose to establish the company as a for-profit rather than a nonprofit because they saw it as the most sustainable way to support the ongoing work of its robust team of journalists.

However, NewsGuard operates a News Literacy Program that is entirely not-for-profit, which is where EBLIDA and public libraries come in. This program is sponsored by Microsoft, which enables NewsGuard to partner with more than 200+ public libraries across the globe that receive free access to its media literacy browser extension and its other educational resources.

How can I bring NewsGuard to my library?

All libraries are welcome to join NewsGuard’s News Literacy Program, and the partnership is straightforward.

Libraries simply need to contact NewsGuard and send the requested technical information, which helps ensure that each library receives free and appropriate access to the extension. Libraries then install NewsGuard on each of their computers by searching NewsGuard on the extension store, or by using deployment scripts to install the tool on many devices at once.

To bring this totally free media literacy tool to your library, read more here or contact Sarah Brandt (sarah.brandt@newsguardtech.com) to get started.

 

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