E01¶


Research	R0050 — Journalism Disciplines
Run	2026-03-31-02
Query	Q001
Source	SRC03
Evidence	SRC03-E01
Type	Factual

NewsGuard's nine-criteria, 100-point scoring system constitutes formal source reliability tiering

URL: https://www.newsguardtech.com/ratings/rating-process-criteria/

Extract¶

NewsGuard evaluates news websites using nine apolitical criteria with a pass-fail scoring system totaling 100 points:

Credibility criteria (62.5 points): 1. Does not repeatedly publish false content (22 pts) 2. Gathers and presents information responsibly (18 pts) 3. Has effective error correction practices (12.5 pts) 4. Handles news/opinion distinction responsibly (12.5 pts) 5. Avoids deceptive headlines (10 pts)

Transparency criteria (37.5 points): 6. Discloses ownership and financing (7.5 pts) 7. Clearly labels advertising (7.5 pts) 8. Reveals editorial leadership (5 pts) 9. Provides content creator information (5 pts)

Five-tier rating system: - 100: High Credibility - 75-99: Generally Credible - 60-74: Credible with Exceptions - 40-59: Proceed with Caution - 0-39: Proceed with Maximum Caution

Key finding: NewsGuard is the closest analog to formal source reliability tiering in journalism. It provides a quantified, multi-criteria scoring system with defined tiers — structurally similar to intelligence community source reliability ratings. However, it evaluates news outlets (entire websites), not individual pieces of evidence or individual sources within a story.

Relevance to Hypotheses¶

Hypothesis	Relationship	Strength
H1	Partially supports	NewsGuard has formal source reliability tiering, but lacks the other three features
H2	Strongly supports	Demonstrates that at least one structural feature (source reliability tiering) exists in journalism
H3	Strongly contradicts	NewsGuard is clearly a formal, structured assessment tool with quantified scoring

Context¶

NewsGuard was founded in 2018 by Steven Brill and Gordon Crovitz. It employs trained journalists who review websites using the nine criteria. Each rated site receives a "Nutrition Label" documenting the evidence for each criterion assessment.