The topic box on the new site is not giving me a dropdown box. I am finding it confusing when I submit a story to not be able to select a topic area as before. I always thought the topic entry section was a little cumbersome, but this seems a bit too open ended and indefinite.
It looks like this got fixed/enhanced now. Good fix.
The topic box on the new site is not giving me a dropdown box. I am finding it confusing when I submit a story to not be able to select a topic area as before. I always thought the topic entry section was a little cumbersome, but this seems a bit too open ended and indefinite.
It looks like this got fixed/enhanced now. Good fix.
I have submitted enough stories on the new site to say that submitting is just plain faster! And now it tells me when a URL I give it has already been submitted, then takes me to the review form. Excellent.
I have submitted enough stories on the new site to say that submitting is just plain faster! And now it tells me when a URL I give it has already been submitted, then takes me to the review form. Excellent.
In trying to review “A Campaign Still To Be Plumbed” in the Washington Post, I was unable to pull up the review form — just the article appeared regardless of what I tried.
In trying to review "A Campaign Still To Be Plumbed" in the Washington Post, I was unable to pull up the review form -- just the article appeared regardless of what I tried.
More crashes and error messages when submitting today. Can’t reliably submit. Also tried to search for health articles and found that the first one listed was from April, 2007.
More crashes and error messages when submitting today. Can't reliably submit. Also tried to search for health articles and found that the first one listed was from April, 2007.
I’m confused. I just reviewed a story that had been reviewed by two others. At the top of the review summary, 3 reviewers were noted. Under “Popularity,” # Reviews 1.5???
I'm confused. I just reviewed a story that had been reviewed by two others. At the top of the review summary, 3 reviewers were noted. Under "Popularity," # Reviews 1.5???
Hi Debbie, your point is well taken. As we are a principally community driven site, we urge our members to post high quality stories that are not getting the coverage they deserve. Using our story submission tool , you can easily submit stories yourself. For additional help, see our Reviewer FAQ.
Hi Debbie, your point is well taken. As we are a principally community driven site, we urge our members to post high quality stories that are not getting the coverage they deserve. Using our "story submission tool":http://www.newstrust.net/submit , you can easily submit stories yourself. For additional help, see our "Reviewer FAQ.":http://newstrust.net/help/faq/reviewer/#submit_story
The pic on the immigration story is great—except I don’t think it matches the lead story on IRELAND. It needs a caption linking it to the right story, or a change/removal of the pic, IMHO.
Thanks—and I DO love the new version,
Marsha Iverson
The pic on the immigration story is great--except I don't think it matches the lead story on IRELAND. It needs a caption linking it to the right story, or a change/removal of the pic, IMHO.
Thanks--and I DO love the new version,
Marsha Iverson
When I look at an opinion piece and then want to go back to the home page, the site puts me back in the news half even if I left the home page from the opinion half.
I would like the site to remember whether you went to a story from the News side of the Opinion side, and then the next time you click on home – return you to that side of the home page.
This may also lead to more reviews of opinion pieces if it is easier to shuttle back and forth.
cheers
When I look at an opinion piece and then want to go back to the home page, the site puts me back in the news half even if I left the home page from the opinion half.
I would like the site to remember whether you went to a story from the News side of the Opinion side, and then the next time you click on home - return you to that side of the home page.
This may also lead to more reviews of opinion pieces if it is easier to shuttle back and forth.
cheers
I can’t find a “suggestion box”, and I wanted to comment on the Fairness and Balance debate summary. Your summary is a good one, especially the links at the end to resources on fairness and balance on journalism websites.
Fairness and balance have become a joke in journalism ever since Fox hijacked the phrase, and since the fairness and balance rules for the media were thrown out by Reagan, IIRC.
The main problem is that every idea, no matter how looney, is supposed to be given equal time and equal respect, whether it deserves it or not. This is related to the situation where, too often, the role of reporter is reduced to mere stenography, repeating the talking points that each side offers, without any attempt to evaluate their merits, either on logical grounds or on the basis of evidence.
As news organizations continue to be pressured to cut staff, the temptation will be to become mere stenographers for every special interest that comes along. Sometimes it seems that the hard work of evaluation is neglected.
I can't find a "suggestion box", and I wanted to comment on the Fairness and Balance debate summary. Your summary is a good one, especially the links at the end to resources on fairness and balance on journalism websites.
Fairness and balance have become a joke in journalism ever since Fox hijacked the phrase, and since the fairness and balance rules for the media were thrown out by Reagan, IIRC.
The main problem is that every idea, no matter how looney, is supposed to be given equal time and equal respect, whether it deserves it or not. This is related to the situation where, too often, the role of reporter is reduced to mere stenography, repeating the talking points that each side offers, without any attempt to evaluate their merits, either on logical grounds or on the basis of evidence.
As news organizations continue to be pressured to cut staff, the temptation will be to become mere stenographers for every special interest that comes along. Sometimes it seems that the hard work of evaluation is neglected.
The new home page is a great improvement for visitors, as they can see the highest ranked stories more easily, instead of just a bunch of recently submitted stories that are probably run of the mill. Putting news and opinion at the same level on the page elevates Opinion so visitors do not have to work so hard to find it, and that is good.
A disappointment was the change to the submittal page that was hiding the scroll bars when the window was narrow, but it seems to be functioning ok now in my computer, so maybe it is fixed.
The new home page is a great improvement for visitors, as they can see the highest ranked stories more easily, instead of just a bunch of recently submitted stories that are probably run of the mill. Putting news and opinion at the same level on the page elevates Opinion so visitors do not have to work so hard to find it, and that is good.
A disappointment was the change to the submittal page that was hiding the scroll bars when the window was narrow, but it seems to be functioning ok now in my computer, so maybe it is fixed.
I had a couple of observations: a couple of times when I’ve tried to submit stories that someone else has posted, I get a message that says “that URL is taken” and I can’t do anything else. Any chance it could auto-forward to review the story?
Also, I tend to post a lot of links—many of which are background information, not stories needing review. Any way to designate those differently?
And one more thing—I often would re-arrange the links and/or comments after I’ve keyed them in. Any chance we could shuffle them at will without cutting and pasting or retyping?
So much for constructive thoughts for the night—-and Thanks for all you do!
Marsha Iverson
I had a couple of observations: a couple of times when I've tried to submit stories that someone else has posted, I get a message that says "that URL is taken" and I can't do anything else. Any chance it could auto-forward to review the story?
Also, I tend to post a lot of links--many of which are background information, not stories needing review. Any way to designate those differently?
And one more thing--I often would re-arrange the links and/or comments after I've keyed them in. Any chance we could shuffle them at will without cutting and pasting or retyping?
So much for constructive thoughts for the night---and Thanks for all you do!
Marsha Iverson
Something seems to have changed recently on the submit page. On the other computer I sometimes use, the submit page seems wider. When I put it down to a width that will allow seeing the story and the submit page at the same time, then the submit box is so narrow that the vertical scroll control disappears. So to reach the last couple steps I have to scroll down, but now it requires resizing the page first to get the scroll bar to show. I am not sure of the solution, but being able to do a vertical scroll without widening the page would be good.
Stickiness: When trying to read the “most trusted” stories, after finishing one and then trying to go back to the home page, the screen come up on the “Most recent” page instead of being sticky and staying at the last selection (most trusted) off the home page. It seems like a minor nuisance, but it is a frequent minor nuisance.
cheers
Something seems to have changed recently on the submit page. On the other computer I sometimes use, the submit page seems wider. When I put it down to a width that will allow seeing the story and the submit page at the same time, then the submit box is so narrow that the vertical scroll control disappears. So to reach the last couple steps I have to scroll down, but now it requires resizing the page first to get the scroll bar to show. I am not sure of the solution, but being able to do a vertical scroll without widening the page would be good.
Stickiness: When trying to read the "most trusted" stories, after finishing one and then trying to go back to the home page, the screen come up on the "Most recent" page instead of being sticky and staying at the last selection (most trusted) off the home page. It seems like a minor nuisance, but it is a frequent minor nuisance.
cheers
Being new to your site, i’ve found it to be a great way to get my opinion out so my head doesn’t explode. Thanks
Being new to the internet , I’m trying to teach myself, I have trouble navigating sometimes, but I’ll get the hang of it. On the Submit side, I did manage to get one on, after trail and error.
My only problem with the columns is that they are mostly submitted by the same people. But, I think in the future more people will submit, I know I’ll get the hang of it. I will submit somemore in the near future.
I like the way that the scoring is done, being not just one source.
So thanks, good job.
Being new to your site, i've found it to be a great way to get my opinion out so my head doesn't explode. Thanks
Being new to the internet , I'm trying to teach myself, I have trouble navigating sometimes, but I'll get the hang of it. On the Submit side, I did manage to get one on, after trail and error.
My only problem with the columns is that they are mostly submitted by the same people. But, I think in the future more people will submit, I know I'll get the hang of it. I will submit somemore in the near future.
I like the way that the scoring is done, being not just one source.
So thanks, good job.
There’s an easy way to ensure your NewsTrust profile is hidden from search engines. Once you’re logged into the site, click on the My Account link at the top, right corner of any NewsTrust page. In the Membership tab, uncheck the “Show my Profile” box in the Other Members Settings section. Finally, click ‘Save’ at the bottom of the page.
It may take up to several weeks for the cached version of your NewsTrust profile to be removed from the search engine’s records.
Check out the Member FAQ for more information on your account settings.
There's an easy way to ensure your NewsTrust profile is hidden from search engines. Once you're logged into the site, click on the "My Account":http://newstrust.net/members/my_account link at the top, right corner of any NewsTrust page. In the "Membership tab":http://newstrust.net/members/my_account#membership, uncheck the "Show my Profile" box in the Other Members Settings section. Finally, click 'Save' at the bottom of the page.
It may take up to several weeks for the cached version of your NewsTrust profile to be removed from the search engine's records.
Check out the "Member FAQ":http://newstrust.net/help/faq/member for more information on your account settings.
I read NewsTrust every day, but some articles are new and some are repeats. It would save me a lot of time if all new articles were flagged as NEW the first day they appear.
I read NewsTrust every day, but some articles are new and some are repeats. It would save me a lot of time if all new articles were flagged as NEW the first day they appear.
I read the rules and the scoring formula, but it seems to me that the scoring weighs time more heavily than whether the answer is correct. My score went up 1 point for a correct answer – after about 2/3 of the time was used – on a question that 2/3 got right. I then got -7 points for a wrong answer that 3/4 got right.
Seems to me that a correct answer is more important than speed – thus slowness should discount the ‘winnings’ by less than half.
What’s wrong with thinking about the news / questions?
I read the rules and the scoring formula, but it seems to me that the scoring weighs time more heavily than whether the answer is correct. My score went up 1 point for a correct answer - after about 2/3 of the time was used - on a question that 2/3 got right. I then got -7 points for a wrong answer that 3/4 got right.
Seems to me that a correct answer is more important than speed - thus slowness should discount the 'winnings' by less than half.
What's wrong with thinking about the news / questions?
It is appropriate to feature media articles that are highly rated by NewsTrust reviewers We should also draw attention to MSM articles that reviewers rate badly.
To review an article, I read much more carefully than I would otherwise do. Most works are at least competently written but occasionally one emerges as distinctly bad.
By featuring examples of the worst of the worst, we would encourage accountability. A major publication printing an article that fails basic fact checking is inexcusable.
It is appropriate to feature media articles that are highly rated by NewsTrust reviewers We should also draw attention to MSM articles that reviewers rate badly.
To review an article, I read much more carefully than I would otherwise do. Most works are at least competently written but occasionally one emerges as distinctly bad.
By featuring examples of the worst of the worst, we would encourage accountability. A major publication printing an article that fails basic fact checking is inexcusable.
Mark,
Thanks for the great feedback. Though we do have an extensive help section for readers wanting to learn more about news literacy and evaluating articles on NewsTrust, we realize this information needs to be more accessible. To that end, we are in the process of putting together some simple, visually appealing news literacy guides. Standby!
Kaizar Campwala
Associate Editor, NewsTrust
Mark,
Thanks for the great feedback. Though we do have an extensive "help section":http://newstrust.net/help/faq/reviewer#review_story for readers wanting to learn more about news literacy and evaluating articles on NewsTrust, we realize this information needs to be more accessible. To that end, we are in the process of putting together some simple, visually appealing news literacy guides. Standby!
Kaizar Campwala
Associate Editor, NewsTrust
I most definitely dig the new format–separating the critique from personal comments–even though I seem to still have trouble doing so. But there are those two glaring errata that continue to plague me–not just from NewsTrust members but from practically everybody.
Media is plural (describing all mediums: film, radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, etc.) To say, “the media is biased” is like saying, “they is biased.” Properly, it’s, “media are right-wing biased.”
Data is also plural (describing more than one datum.) Rather than, "research data proves media are right-wing biased;” it’s, "research data prove media are right-wing biased.”
At this point we shan’t even attempt to discuss, “it’s right-wing biased” or “its right-wing bias.” That’s another feedback.
Although I don’t always have time to respond to NewsTrust, I really enjoy not only reading the articles, but also seeing what others think of them. Keep up the really great work.
Thank you,
Jack Dinkmeyer
I most definitely dig the new format–separating the critique from personal comments–even though I seem to still have trouble doing so. But there are those two glaring errata that continue to plague me–not just from NewsTrust members but from practically everybody.
Media is plural (describing all mediums: film, radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, etc.) To say, "the media is biased" is like saying, "they is biased." Properly, it's, "media are right-wing biased."
Data is also plural (describing more than one datum.) Rather than, "research data proves media are right-wing biased;” it's, "research data prove media are right-wing biased.”
At this point we shan't even attempt to discuss, "it's right-wing biased" or "its right-wing bias." That's another feedback.
Although I don’t always have time to respond to NewsTrust, I really enjoy not only reading the articles, but also seeing what others think of them. Keep up the really great work.
Thank you,
Jack Dinkmeyer
Perhaps it’s me. Or perhaps it’s because the Colorado winter has kicked in since April has begun and snow has finally begun. Or perhaps it’s because Bush and Cheney have achieved the status, “When are we going to prosecute the lying Bastards?” Or perhaps it’s because Obama has re-instituted the rule of law and rule of law is boring. Or perhaps, God forbid, at my age (73) I’m easily bored. At any rate, NewsTrust articles have reached the status of, “Who really gives a shit?” And that represents a dilemma for both of us. What shall we do? Cancel my participation? That’s where I’m headed.
Jack Dinkmeyer
Perhaps it’s me. Or perhaps it’s because the Colorado winter has kicked in since April has begun and snow has finally begun. Or perhaps it’s because Bush and Cheney have achieved the status, “When are we going to prosecute the lying Bastards?” Or perhaps it’s because Obama has re-instituted the rule of law and rule of law is boring. Or perhaps, God forbid, at my age (73) I’m easily bored. At any rate, NewsTrust articles have reached the status of, “Who really gives a shit?” And that represents a dilemma for both of us. What shall we do? Cancel my participation? That’s where I’m headed.
Jack Dinkmeyer
My account has been down for weeks. Kaizar had it fixed, but it went out the next day. I had a 3.5 rating, and with no explanation, i"m dropped to 3.1. If my participation is no-longer needed, please advise me as to what to do?
My account has been down for weeks. Kaizar had it fixed, but it went out the next day. I had a 3.5 rating, and with no explanation, i"m dropped to 3.1. If my participation is no-longer needed, please advise me as to what to do?
As you go into the redesign, one of the areas I would like to see is way to get in touch with other reviewers who don’t want their personal emails revealed, but in a community such as this where we rate each other, it would be nice to ask or explain a rating. With the number of throw away email addresses available, it would be simple to require a response address in order to submit a story or rate another reviewer.
As you go into the redesign, one of the areas I would like to see is way to get in touch with other reviewers who don't want their personal emails revealed, but in a community such as this where we rate each other, it would be nice to ask or explain a rating. With the number of throw away email addresses available, it would be simple to require a response address in order to submit a story or rate another reviewer.
This week we’re hosting a special News Hunt on the Economy, with a new twist. Rather than covering one broad topic as we have in the past, we’ll focus on clusters of related stories on economy sub-topics such as: jobs, poverty, or the credit card industry (today’s feature).
Each day this week, the featured story on our home page will include links to related stories which we’ll ask you to compare. Help create our News Comparison service by reviewing stories on our home page, as well as our related stories on the same topic.
We also invite you to link (or submit) more related stories on this week’s featured topics. When you have reviewed a couple stories on a topic, please write a comment in your review, or click the Like button to let us know which story you found most informative.
This experiment is a response to the sweeping support our News Comparison idea in last week’s survey on the future of NewsTrust.
Please let us know what you think. Thanks in advance!
This week we're hosting a special News Hunt on the Economy, with a new twist. Rather than covering one broad topic as we have in the past, we'll focus on clusters of related stories on economy sub-topics such as: jobs, poverty, or the credit card industry ("today's feature":http://newstrust.net/stories/42754#links).
Each day this week, the featured story on our home page will include links to related stories which we'll ask you to compare. Help create our News Comparison service by reviewing stories on our home page, as well as our related stories on the same topic.
We also invite you to "link":http://newstrust.net/help/faq/reviewer/#story_links (or "submit":http://newstrust.net/submit) more related stories on this week's featured topics. When you have reviewed a couple stories on a topic, please write a comment in your review, or click the "Like":http://blog.newstrust.net/2009/03/picks.html button to let us know which story you found most informative.
This experiment is a response to the sweeping support our News Comparison idea in last week's survey on the future of NewsTrust.
Please let us know what you think. Thanks in advance!
In the last few weeks we’ve being experimenting with focused News Comparisons on the homepage, and would love to hear your feedback.
Rather than covering one broad topic as we’ve done in the past, we’ve been focusing on clusters of related stories on a single news event, listed in a way that makes for easy comparison. This experiment is a response to the sweeping support our News Comparison idea in a recent survey on the future of NewsTrust.
Have you noticed this new feature on the homepage?
Do you find it useful? Interesting?
Please let us know what you think, both good and bad, about the News Comparisons. Respond by replying to this thread in the feedback page, or emailing the staff privately at feedback@newstrust.net.
Thanks for helping us make NewsTrust more useful and interesting!
In the last few weeks we've being experimenting with focused News Comparisons on the homepage, and would love to hear your feedback.
Rather than covering one broad topic as we've done in the past, we've been focusing on clusters of related stories on a single news event, listed in a way that makes for easy comparison. This experiment is a response to the sweeping support our News Comparison idea in a recent survey on the future of NewsTrust.
Have you noticed this new feature on the homepage?
Do you find it useful? Interesting?
Please let us know what you think, both good and bad, about the News Comparisons. Respond by replying to this thread in the feedback page, or emailing the staff privately at feedback@newstrust.net.
Thanks for helping us make NewsTrust more useful and interesting!
I love it! Thank you so much for this idea. I have not been able to write reviews lately but I do read aka “quick look” Newstrust and these comparisons have been terrific. Once upon time, when I wasn’t so busy, I use to do it myself but now, Newstrust is doing it. To me, it’s the only way to learn about what’s going on by comparing how others (i.e. countries) view what’s going on with us and other situtions in our world. Amrica isn’t the truthsayer as we once were, if we ever were, anymore.
Thank you, again!!
Deborah
Peace
I love it! Thank you so much for this idea. I have not been able to write reviews lately but I do read aka "quick look" Newstrust and these comparisons have been terrific. Once upon time, when I wasn't so busy, I use to do it myself but now, Newstrust is doing it. To me, it's the only way to learn about what's going on by comparing how others (i.e. countries) view what's going on with us and other situtions in our world. Amrica isn't the truthsayer as we once were, if we ever were, anymore.
Thank you, again!!
Deborah
Peace
I have commented that I am a little oeverwhelmed with the different lingo and links. When I go to the comparison, I do not see, for example, the same subject heading with, say, three articles side by side. I do see several articles and can link to more article. I guess i was looking for a table with three articles, say, and then comments comparing those articles. I love the serrvice yet find I do not want to read all the articles—I do not have the time to do the comparison myself—I was thinking that some comenatator(s) would point out the differences in the articles—either Newstrust and its readers. I am still getting used to the service. Keep up the great work!
RWZ
I have commented that I am a little oeverwhelmed with the different lingo and links. When I go to the comparison, I do not see, for example, the same subject heading with, say, three articles side by side. I do see several articles and can link to more article. I guess i was looking for a table with three articles, say, and then comments comparing those articles. I love the serrvice yet find I do not want to read all the articles--I do not have the time to do the comparison myself--I was thinking that some comenatator(s) would point out the differences in the articles--either Newstrust and its readers. I am still getting used to the service. Keep up the great work!
RWZ
Your good recommendations will help us expand our current prototype, to provide a special ‘News Comparison’ page in coming weeks.
As a starting point, we could provide a sub-topic page focusing on the particular news event we’re comparing (rather than a broader topic, as we do now). That page would feature the 3-4 stories that are being compared, with a couple member and editor reviews below each of them. We could also add a discussion on that page, as well as a short list of other related stories.
In any case, many thanks for helping us improve our site to better serve your needs. Your thoughtful feedback is invaluable to us – it’s people like you that make NewsTrust possible!
RW Ziegler,
Thanks for your great feedback!
Your good recommendations will help us expand our current prototype, to provide a special 'News Comparison' page in coming weeks.
As a starting point, we could provide a sub-topic page focusing on the particular news event we're comparing (rather than a broader topic, as we do now). That page would feature the 3-4 stories that are being compared, with a couple member and editor reviews below each of them. We could also add a discussion on that page, as well as a short list of other related stories.
In any case, many thanks for helping us improve our site to better serve your needs. Your thoughtful feedback is invaluable to us - it's people like you that make NewsTrust possible!
I think this is a very interesting experiment, which should be continued and refined. I always try to look at the articles, even if I don’t review them. There has been at least one instance where I felt that another article in the listings would have made a better comparison – but that’s part of development.
I think this is a very interesting experiment, which should be continued and refined. I always try to look at the articles, even if I don't review them. There has been at least one instance where I felt that another article in the listings would have made a better comparison - but that's part of development.
I am a little overwhelmed with your service—and I love the service. I am trying to see how I read/compare/comment/link/focus/submit. I am not sure what all these like terms mean—they take me to different pages. Maybe a vocabulary page would be in order. Sorry for being a little dense.
RWZ
I am a little overwhelmed with your service--and I love the service. I am trying to see how I read/compare/comment/link/focus/submit. I am not sure what all these like terms mean--they take me to different pages. Maybe a vocabulary page would be in order. Sorry for being a little dense.
RWZ
Both Slate and The Root are owned by the Washington Post Company. Therefore, we list them as mainstream.
For more information on how we define mainstream and independent media, check out the section on source ownership in our Host FAQ:
http://newstrust.net/help/faq/host/#mainstream_media
Thanks,
Derek Hawkins
Assistant Editor
NewsTrust
Hi Lee,
Thanks for your comment.
Both "Slate":http://newstrust.net/sources/slate and "The Root":http://newstrust.net/sources/the_root are owned by the Washington Post Company. Therefore, we list them as mainstream.
For more information on how we define mainstream and independent media, check out the section on source ownership in our Host FAQ:
http://newstrust.net/help/faq/host/#mainstream_media
Thanks,
Derek Hawkins
Assistant Editor
NewsTrust
Hi Brad,
Thank you for taking the time to comment. We appreciate your frustration on the usability issue. So much so, in fact, that NT team is hard at work this summer redesigning certain aspects of the site to make it more usable, and creating new features to make it more useful.
Regarding the aggressive marketing, are you referring to the registration pop-up when you click to review a story? If so, we’re moving to a more integrated review form in the coming months, so you won’t get multiple popup windows in your browser when reading stories on the site.
So thanks for signing up, and stay tuned a better NewsTrust experience soon. In the mean time, Try submitting or reviewing a story or two on NewsTrust. It’ll change the way you consume the news, and help guide your fellow citizens to good journalism online.
Kaizar Campwala
Associate Editor, NewsTrust
Hi Brad,
Thank you for taking the time to comment. We appreciate your frustration on the usability issue. So much so, in fact, that NT team is hard at work this summer redesigning certain aspects of the site to make it more usable, and creating new features to make it more useful.
Regarding the aggressive marketing, are you referring to the registration pop-up when you click to review a story? If so, we're moving to a more integrated review form in the coming months, so you won't get multiple popup windows in your browser when reading stories on the site.
So thanks for signing up, and stay tuned a better NewsTrust experience soon. In the mean time, Try "submitting":http://newstrust.net/submit or reviewing a story or two on NewsTrust. It'll change the way you consume the news, and help guide your fellow citizens to good journalism online.
Kaizar Campwala
Associate Editor, NewsTrust
Dwight Rousu – Oct. 2, 2008 - 09:00 AM
The topic box on the new site is not giving me a dropdown box. I am finding it confusing when I submit a story to not be able to select a topic area as before. I always thought the topic entry section was a little cumbersome, but this seems a bit too open ended and indefinite.
It looks like this got fixed/enhanced now. Good fix.
Mike LaBonte – Oct. 2, 2008 - 05:10 PM
I have submitted enough stories on the new site to say that submitting is just plain faster! And now it tells me when a URL I give it has already been submitted, then takes me to the review form. Excellent.
Dwight Rousu – Oct. 4, 2008 - 12:16 AM
I am trying to submit a story and get a response window saying 405 Not Allowed
nginx/0.6.32
Any clues as to cause?
Jim Lang – Oct. 5, 2008 - 09:15 AM
In trying to review “A Campaign Still To Be Plumbed” in the Washington Post, I was unable to pull up the review form — just the article appeared regardless of what I tried.
Patricia Blochowiak – Oct. 5, 2008 - 09:03 PM
More crashes and error messages when submitting today. Can’t reliably submit. Also tried to search for health articles and found that the first one listed was from April, 2007.
Dwight Rousu – Oct. 12, 2008 - 08:47 AM
Sunday – Oct 12 Intermittantly have not been able to submit.
I submit that this may be a problem.
It obstructs our mission of submission.
Patricia Blochowiak – Oct. 5, 2008 - 09:39 PM
I’m confused. I just reviewed a story that had been reviewed by two others. At the top of the review summary, 3 reviewers were noted. Under “Popularity,” # Reviews 1.5???
Kaizar Campwala – Oct. 13, 2008 - 10:17 AM
Hi Debbie, your point is well taken. As we are a principally community driven site, we urge our members to post high quality stories that are not getting the coverage they deserve. Using our story submission tool , you can easily submit stories yourself. For additional help, see our Reviewer FAQ.
Marsha Iverson – Oct. 16, 2008 - 03:10 PM
The pic on the immigration story is great—except I don’t think it matches the lead story on IRELAND. It needs a caption linking it to the right story, or a change/removal of the pic, IMHO.
Thanks—and I DO love the new version,
Marsha Iverson
Dwight Rousu – Nov. 25, 2008 - 10:44 PM
When I look at an opinion piece and then want to go back to the home page, the site puts me back in the news half even if I left the home page from the opinion half.
I would like the site to remember whether you went to a story from the News side of the Opinion side, and then the next time you click on home – return you to that side of the home page.
This may also lead to more reviews of opinion pieces if it is easier to shuttle back and forth.
cheers
Robert M Schacht – Dec. 10, 2008 - 02:44 PM
I can’t find a “suggestion box”, and I wanted to comment on the Fairness and Balance debate summary. Your summary is a good one, especially the links at the end to resources on fairness and balance on journalism websites.
Fairness and balance have become a joke in journalism ever since Fox hijacked the phrase, and since the fairness and balance rules for the media were thrown out by Reagan, IIRC.
The main problem is that every idea, no matter how looney, is supposed to be given equal time and equal respect, whether it deserves it or not. This is related to the situation where, too often, the role of reporter is reduced to mere stenography, repeating the talking points that each side offers, without any attempt to evaluate their merits, either on logical grounds or on the basis of evidence.
As news organizations continue to be pressured to cut staff, the temptation will be to become mere stenographers for every special interest that comes along. Sometimes it seems that the hard work of evaluation is neglected.
Dwight Rousu – Dec. 13, 2008 - 04:53 PM
The new home page is a great improvement for visitors, as they can see the highest ranked stories more easily, instead of just a bunch of recently submitted stories that are probably run of the mill. Putting news and opinion at the same level on the page elevates Opinion so visitors do not have to work so hard to find it, and that is good.
A disappointment was the change to the submittal page that was hiding the scroll bars when the window was narrow, but it seems to be functioning ok now in my computer, so maybe it is fixed.
Marsha Iverson – Dec. 13, 2008 - 10:00 PM
I had a couple of observations: a couple of times when I’ve tried to submit stories that someone else has posted, I get a message that says “that URL is taken” and I can’t do anything else. Any chance it could auto-forward to review the story?
Also, I tend to post a lot of links—many of which are background information, not stories needing review. Any way to designate those differently?
And one more thing—I often would re-arrange the links and/or comments after I’ve keyed them in. Any chance we could shuffle them at will without cutting and pasting or retyping?
So much for constructive thoughts for the night—-and Thanks for all you do!
Marsha Iverson
Dwight Rousu – Dec. 14, 2008 - 07:39 PM
Something seems to have changed recently on the submit page. On the other computer I sometimes use, the submit page seems wider. When I put it down to a width that will allow seeing the story and the submit page at the same time, then the submit box is so narrow that the vertical scroll control disappears. So to reach the last couple steps I have to scroll down, but now it requires resizing the page first to get the scroll bar to show. I am not sure of the solution, but being able to do a vertical scroll without widening the page would be good.
Stickiness: When trying to read the “most trusted” stories, after finishing one and then trying to go back to the home page, the screen come up on the “Most recent” page instead of being sticky and staying at the last selection (most trusted) off the home page. It seems like a minor nuisance, but it is a frequent minor nuisance.
cheers
Kenneth Sibbett – Dec. 19, 2008 - 12:49 PM
Being new to your site, i’ve found it to be a great way to get my opinion out so my head doesn’t explode. Thanks
Being new to the internet , I’m trying to teach myself, I have trouble navigating sometimes, but I’ll get the hang of it. On the Submit side, I did manage to get one on, after trail and error.
My only problem with the columns is that they are mostly submitted by the same people. But, I think in the future more people will submit, I know I’ll get the hang of it. I will submit somemore in the near future.
I like the way that the scoring is done, being not just one source.
So thanks, good job.
Kaizar Campwala – Dec. 22, 2008 - 04:54 PM
There’s an easy way to ensure your NewsTrust profile is hidden from search engines. Once you’re logged into the site, click on the My Account link at the top, right corner of any NewsTrust page. In the Membership tab, uncheck the “Show my Profile” box in the Other Members Settings section. Finally, click ‘Save’ at the bottom of the page.
It may take up to several weeks for the cached version of your NewsTrust profile to be removed from the search engine’s records.
Check out the Member FAQ for more information on your account settings.
Richard L. Hawley – Jan. 1, 2009 - 06:32 PM
I read NewsTrust every day, but some articles are new and some are repeats. It would save me a lot of time if all new articles were flagged as NEW the first day they appear.
David Agnew – Jan. 25, 2009 - 07:10 PM
I read the rules and the scoring formula, but it seems to me that the scoring weighs time more heavily than whether the answer is correct. My score went up 1 point for a correct answer – after about 2/3 of the time was used – on a question that 2/3 got right. I then got -7 points for a wrong answer that 3/4 got right.
Seems to me that a correct answer is more important than speed – thus slowness should discount the ‘winnings’ by less than half.
What’s wrong with thinking about the news / questions?
David Agnew – Jan. 27, 2009 - 07:54 PM
I just took a while to answer a question – got it correct (2 people answered, 50% were correct), and my ‘skill rating’ went down (-2). Huh?
Norman Farrell – Feb. 16, 2009 - 02:40 PM
It is appropriate to feature media articles that are highly rated by NewsTrust reviewers We should also draw attention to MSM articles that reviewers rate badly.
To review an article, I read much more carefully than I would otherwise do. Most works are at least competently written but occasionally one emerges as distinctly bad.
By featuring examples of the worst of the worst, we would encourage accountability. A major publication printing an article that fails basic fact checking is inexcusable.
Kaizar Campwala – Mar. 16, 2009 - 02:44 PM
Mark,
Thanks for the great feedback. Though we do have an extensive help section for readers wanting to learn more about news literacy and evaluating articles on NewsTrust, we realize this information needs to be more accessible. To that end, we are in the process of putting together some simple, visually appealing news literacy guides. Standby!
Kaizar Campwala
Associate Editor, NewsTrust
Jack Dinkmeyer – Apr. 5, 2009 - 03:03 PM
I most definitely dig the new format–separating the critique from personal comments–even though I seem to still have trouble doing so. But there are those two glaring errata that continue to plague me–not just from NewsTrust members but from practically everybody.
Media is plural (describing all mediums: film, radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, etc.) To say, “the media is biased” is like saying, “they is biased.” Properly, it’s, “media are right-wing biased.”
Data is also plural (describing more than one datum.) Rather than, "research data proves media are right-wing biased;” it’s, "research data prove media are right-wing biased.”
At this point we shan’t even attempt to discuss, “it’s right-wing biased” or “its right-wing bias.” That’s another feedback.
Although I don’t always have time to respond to NewsTrust, I really enjoy not only reading the articles, but also seeing what others think of them. Keep up the really great work.
Thank you,
Jack Dinkmeyer
Jack Dinkmeyer – Apr. 6, 2009 - 05:30 PM
Perhaps it’s me. Or perhaps it’s because the Colorado winter has kicked in since April has begun and snow has finally begun. Or perhaps it’s because Bush and Cheney have achieved the status, “When are we going to prosecute the lying Bastards?” Or perhaps it’s because Obama has re-instituted the rule of law and rule of law is boring. Or perhaps, God forbid, at my age (73) I’m easily bored. At any rate, NewsTrust articles have reached the status of, “Who really gives a shit?” And that represents a dilemma for both of us. What shall we do? Cancel my participation? That’s where I’m headed.
Jack Dinkmeyer
Kenneth Sibbett – Apr. 9, 2009 - 04:32 AM
I love Newstrust.net. But, my account page has been down quite awhile, and I need to know when it will be fixed?
Kenneth Sibbett – Apr. 21, 2009 - 11:35 AM
My account has been down for weeks. Kaizar had it fixed, but it went out the next day. I had a 3.5 rating, and with no explanation, i"m dropped to 3.1. If my participation is no-longer needed, please advise me as to what to do?
Glenn LaBauve – May. 13, 2009 - 11:34 PM
As you go into the redesign, one of the areas I would like to see is way to get in touch with other reviewers who don’t want their personal emails revealed, but in a community such as this where we rate each other, it would be nice to ask or explain a rating. With the number of throw away email addresses available, it would be simple to require a response address in order to submit a story or rate another reviewer.
Kaizar Campwala – May. 14, 2009 - 08:20 AM
Thanks for the valuable feedback, Glenn. Stay tuned for messaging, and other community features, in the next couple months.
Fabrice Florin – May. 18, 2009 - 12:51 PM
This week we’re hosting a special News Hunt on the Economy, with a new twist. Rather than covering one broad topic as we have in the past, we’ll focus on clusters of related stories on economy sub-topics such as: jobs, poverty, or the credit card industry (today’s feature).
Each day this week, the featured story on our home page will include links to related stories which we’ll ask you to compare. Help create our News Comparison service by reviewing stories on our home page, as well as our related stories on the same topic.
We also invite you to link (or submit) more related stories on this week’s featured topics. When you have reviewed a couple stories on a topic, please write a comment in your review, or click the Like button to let us know which story you found most informative.
This experiment is a response to the sweeping support our News Comparison idea in last week’s survey on the future of NewsTrust.
Please let us know what you think. Thanks in advance!
Kaizar Campwala – Jun. 1, 2009 - 12:20 PM
In the last few weeks we’ve being experimenting with focused News Comparisons on the homepage, and would love to hear your feedback.
Rather than covering one broad topic as we’ve done in the past, we’ve been focusing on clusters of related stories on a single news event, listed in a way that makes for easy comparison. This experiment is a response to the sweeping support our News Comparison idea in a recent survey on the future of NewsTrust.
Have you noticed this new feature on the homepage?
Do you find it useful? Interesting?
Please let us know what you think, both good and bad, about the News Comparisons. Respond by replying to this thread in the feedback page, or emailing the staff privately at feedback@newstrust.net.
Thanks for helping us make NewsTrust more useful and interesting!
Deborah Plummer – Jun. 5, 2009 - 01:36 PM
I love it! Thank you so much for this idea. I have not been able to write reviews lately but I do read aka “quick look” Newstrust and these comparisons have been terrific. Once upon time, when I wasn’t so busy, I use to do it myself but now, Newstrust is doing it. To me, it’s the only way to learn about what’s going on by comparing how others (i.e. countries) view what’s going on with us and other situtions in our world. Amrica isn’t the truthsayer as we once were, if we ever were, anymore.
Thank you, again!!
Deborah
Peace
RW Ziegler – Jun. 6, 2009 - 06:32 PM
I have commented that I am a little oeverwhelmed with the different lingo and links. When I go to the comparison, I do not see, for example, the same subject heading with, say, three articles side by side. I do see several articles and can link to more article. I guess i was looking for a table with three articles, say, and then comments comparing those articles. I love the serrvice yet find I do not want to read all the articles—I do not have the time to do the comparison myself—I was thinking that some comenatator(s) would point out the differences in the articles—either Newstrust and its readers. I am still getting used to the service. Keep up the great work!
RWZ
Fabrice Florin – Jun. 7, 2009 - 11:04 AM
RW Ziegler,
Thanks for your great feedback!
Your good recommendations will help us expand our current prototype, to provide a special ‘News Comparison’ page in coming weeks.
As a starting point, we could provide a sub-topic page focusing on the particular news event we’re comparing (rather than a broader topic, as we do now). That page would feature the 3-4 stories that are being compared, with a couple member and editor reviews below each of them. We could also add a discussion on that page, as well as a short list of other related stories.
In any case, many thanks for helping us improve our site to better serve your needs. Your thoughtful feedback is invaluable to us – it’s people like you that make NewsTrust possible!
Naomi Isler – Jun. 6, 2009 - 03:12 PM
I think this is a very interesting experiment, which should be continued and refined. I always try to look at the articles, even if I don’t review them. There has been at least one instance where I felt that another article in the listings would have made a better comparison – but that’s part of development.
RW Ziegler – Jun. 6, 2009 - 06:27 PM
I am a little overwhelmed with your service—and I love the service. I am trying to see how I read/compare/comment/link/focus/submit. I am not sure what all these like terms mean—they take me to different pages. Maybe a vocabulary page would be in order. Sorry for being a little dense.
RWZ
Derek Hawkins – May. 27, 2009 - 02:23 PM
Hi Lee,
Thanks for your comment.
Both Slate and The Root are owned by the Washington Post Company. Therefore, we list them as mainstream.
For more information on how we define mainstream and independent media, check out the section on source ownership in our Host FAQ:
http://newstrust.net/help/faq/host/#mainstream_media
Thanks,
Derek Hawkins
Assistant Editor
NewsTrust
Kaizar Campwala – Jun. 16, 2009 - 01:03 PM
Hi Brad,
Thank you for taking the time to comment. We appreciate your frustration on the usability issue. So much so, in fact, that NT team is hard at work this summer redesigning certain aspects of the site to make it more usable, and creating new features to make it more useful.
Regarding the aggressive marketing, are you referring to the registration pop-up when you click to review a story? If so, we’re moving to a more integrated review form in the coming months, so you won’t get multiple popup windows in your browser when reading stories on the site.
So thanks for signing up, and stay tuned a better NewsTrust experience soon. In the mean time, Try submitting or reviewing a story or two on NewsTrust. It’ll change the way you consume the news, and help guide your fellow citizens to good journalism online.
Kaizar Campwala
Associate Editor, NewsTrust
Samuel W. Velsor IV – Jul. 7, 2009 - 10:53 PM
I think that with the Administrations new offensive in the Afghan area we need a Topic for “Afghanistan War”
Respectfully Submitted;
S W Velsor IV
Kaizar Campwala – Jul. 8, 2009 - 04:58 AM
Mr. Velsor,
Thanks for the suggestion. We’ll keep it in mind when we do our next major taxonomy review.
Lisa Holt – Sep. 4, 2009 - 02:30 PM
I’m having trouble forwarding one of the articles to my facebook wall.