Boosting trust in online media by instantly informing users about conflicts of interest

Trust in mainstream media has been declining steadily across the world.

The trend is fuelled by the perception that news companies are not truly independent but serve the interests of owners, advertisers or creditors. Many media outlets insulate editorial decisions from external pressures, but ordinary citizens have no means to know. Hence, distrust in a few “bad apples” risks extending to the entire industry.

The WiseReader project aims to tackle this problem.

Based on research carried out under the Starting Grant project MIRAGE, it proposes to create a web browser extension that allows online users to learn about the potential conflicts of interest faced by the news outlets.

The extension will identify companies and individuals featured in a news article as well as relevant connections between them and the news outlet.

It would then display the results using an intuitive system of coloured flags and offer comprehensive information about these connections on a dedicated website.

The project aims to empower ordinary citizens allowing them to discern what news sources and stories ought to be trusted. It may also allow quality news outlets to distinguish themselves from others and improve their reputation and traffic.