How NewsGuard Profits From Censoring Independent Media For The Elites
Running an independent media outlet is tough, and there’s a company called NewsGuard that’s making it even harder. NewsGuard claims to rate online content, including from media outlets, to see how trustworthy it is. But if we take a closer look, it’s doing more than that—it’s putting pressure on news organizations.
NewsGuard started in 2018. It sends out “analysts” to review online content creators and give them ratings. The ratings appear as small badges with scores next to search results.
But there’s more to the story. NewsGuard’s real power comes from its connections with advertising agencies. These agencies guide their clients to stop giving money for ads to content creators that NewsGuard’s “analysts” don’t like. Interestingly, big corporate media that are friendly with the establishment tend to get high scores. On the other hand, independent media that question the establishment often get low scores, even if they follow good journalism practices.
Subjective Criteria
NewsGuard says it’s fair and not biased. The company’s ratings look at nine things, like who wrote the article and if it follows the usual editorial rules. But in reality, most of the rating comes from whether NewsGuard thinks the content is truthful.
The first thing they check is if the source keeps spreading lies. They also look at how responsibly the source shares news. NewsGuard says if you fail the first test, you’ll fail the second. Another thing they check is if the headlines are accurate.