An important way news sources build trust with their audience is by providing information about their articles and site. This includes information like clear dates and bylines, as well as information about authors, the news source, company or network behind it, and contact information. This type of transparency helps ensure that readers can easily learn information about both the content they are reading, viewing, or listening to and the creators of that content.
Transparency is also an important element of Google’s news policies. These policies help determine what’s eligible to appear on Google News andother News surfaces, and they help ensure we’re elevating content from trusted, authoritative sources. We’re sharing more about our transparency policy today because we want to help news sources understand the principles behind the policy and how to meet them in practice.
The Poynter Institute has outlined several principles that guide their approach to determining what news sources are considered credible. These principles are based on academic research, journalism industry best practices, and user testing. Some of the main points include taking into account different regional and country-level expectations and practices, considering a breadth of editorial practices, and recognizing that the global news ecosystem is diverse and constantly evolving. By following these guidelines, Poynter aims to create a transparent and inclusive policy that accurately assesses the credibility of news sources from around the world.
Google's Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines are designed to help Google assess the quality of a website. The guidelines consider information that is "clearly available to users" in order to evaluate a site. This includes information like bylines, publishing dates, and labels that indicate the article type.
At the site level, Google looks for information that helps readers understand the site's purpose, structure, and the types of information they can expect. This includes a mission statement, editorial policies and standards, staff information and bios, non-generic contact information, and other organizational-level information like owners and/or funding sources.
Transparency is an important value for news organizations, but it requires a careful approach that takes into account local norms, editorial philosophies, and resources. The Google News team is committed to promoting transparency and helping news sources be recognized for their work. This commitment is reflected in our policies on everything from content removal requests to the display of fact-checking information. We hope that by being transparent about our policies and processes, we can help people around the world stay better informed about the news.