How to Review a Story

To review a story, click on the "Review" link next to any story title on our site. This will open the story on the news site, along with our toolbar and review form.

How does the review form work?

The NewsTrust review form is like an online score pad, with a series of questions or labels about the news story you are reviewing. Answer as many questions as you like, to make your review count more. You can also expand your review with a note or link, then click the yellow "Save" button when you're finished.

We now offer two different kinds of review forms:

• the rating form (which uses a scale from 1 to 5 &mdash see example in right sidebar)
• the button form (which uses big buttons with simple positive and negative answers &mdash see example in right sidebar)

We also offer four versions of our review forms with varying lengths: Short, Quick, Full or Advanced, as outlined below.

• Short Review Form (3 questions for new members)
• Quick Review Form (5 questions for active reviewers)
• Full Review Form (10 questions for experienced reviewers)
• Advanced Review Form (18 questions for experts)

You can switch between review forms any time you like. Simply select a version from the drop-down menu at the top of the form.

The forms have different sets of questions for news and for opinion. Answering these questions will help you determine the quality of that news story or opinion piece.

Review Tips

Here are some tips on how to answer questions in our "Quick Review Form" (5 questions) (shown at right):

News

• Is this story factual?
Is it based on verifiable evidence? Or opinions? Does this story provide factual information to support what it says? Or does this sound like someone’s personal views? Presenting reliable facts is the most important and the most basic aspect of good journalism. Everything in a news story revolves around the facts it contains. News that is based on accurate, verifiable facts helps give us well-informed citizens and a strong democracy. News that is based largely on opinions can be polarizing and takes away from healthy public debate.

• Is it fair?
Is it impartial? Or biased? Is the reporter presenting all sides of the story? Or does he or she take sides? It is a journalist’s responsibility to seek out all angles of a controversy. This doesn’t mean that every side must be given the same amount of space in a story. But it should be clear that the reporter offered all the key players in the story a chance to make their core arguments, or choose not to comment. If it is not, then the story’s fairness will suffer. It is not a journalist’s job to decide who is "right" or "wrong," but present all sides fairly so we can come to our own conclusions.

• Is it well sourced?
Does this story provide enough sources to validate its key information? Are the sources clearly identified? Count the number of sources cited: a good news story usually includes several sources with independent perspectives, both official and unofficial. The author should establish why each source is cited — and if they're anonymous, explain why. Many news stories would not have the same impact without anonymous sources, but they must be used carefully and be identified in some way as to allow the viewer to understand why the source is being cited in the first place.

Opinion

• Is it informative?
Did you learn something new? Do the facts in this story help you better understand the subject? Good journalism takes information that isn’t readily available to us, and may be hard to interpret, and makes it quicker and easier to understand. This question asks how well a news story does that. To answer it thoroughly, you may want to compare this story to other stories on the same topic (see "Links" in our Story Reviews page).

• Is it insightful?
Is it well reasoned? Thoughtful? Does this story give an intelligent perspective on the subject? Are the author's arguments well-supported and logical? An insightful story "connects the dots" to explain things that aren't immediately obvious. In doing so, it draws reasonable conclusions that may include effective solutions to a given problem.

• Is it well written?
Is this story clear? Concise? Compelling? Does it present useful information in an interesting way? Does it make complex issues easier to understand? Is the style appropriate for the topic? Is it grammatical? The way a story is written and presented impacts how many people it reaches.

Both review forms include these last two questions:

• Do you recommend this story?
Is this quality journalism? Would you recommend this story to a friend or colleague? Is this information you think they should know, based on the questions you just answered? Was it good enough for you to read it through the end? This question is similar to the up and down arrows of popular social news sites like Digg and Reddit, but with a focus on quality journalism.

• Do you trust this publication?
Is this publication credible? Does it offer reliable information? Is it trustworthy, based on the stories you've reviewed and what you know about the publisher? Credibility tracks a publication's reputation for journalistic quality, which helps it maintain a good dialogue with its audience. Note that your rating for that question will be automatically filled-in next time you review a story from this publication.

Expand your review

At the end of the review form, you can click "Expand your review" to show four more tabs: Notes, Comments, Quotes, and Links, as well as a Disclosure checkbox. These sections are optional, but the more questions you answer, the more your ratings count.

More Questions:

The questions listed above are part of our "Quick Review" form. As you get more comfortable, you might like to try our other forms: "Full Review" (10 questions) and "Advanced Review" (18 questions). You will find tips on how to answer the questions in these forms in Exhibit A:: More Review Questions.

It's Your Turn

You're now ready to review a story on NewsTrust — and practice what you've learned.

To review a story, click on the "Review" link next to any story title on our site. This will open the story on the news site, along with our toolbar and review form.

Answer as many questions as you like, write a short note if you choose, then press "Save" when you're finished. You can also add a personal comment, include links to related articles elsewhere, and feature favorite quotes. You're welcome to include as little or as much information as you want.

For more review tips, check our Reviewer FAQ.

Also check our companion guide, "Think Like a Journalist", by Michael Bugeja.

We created this news literacy guide to help you discover core concepts of journalism — so that you can get the most benefit from NewsTrust.

Educational Resources

To learn more about news literacy and principles of journalism, check our extensive listing of educational resources, as an exhibit to this guide. To give us feedback on this first guide, or to recommend more educational resources, .

NewsTrust Team Credits

This guide was edited by Fabrice Florin, Kristin Gorski, Jon Mitchell, and developed by David Fox. NewsTrust review questions and tips were written by Fabrice Florin, Derek Hawkins and Kaizar Campwala — and edited by Michael Bugeja. Besides these team members, other valued contributors to our news literacy program include John McManus, Howard Rheingold and Frank Baker.