A rankings-based news aggregator called NewsTrust, which launched Tuesday, is "developing an online news rating service to help people identify quality journalism." A group of reviewers (including students and journalists) rate submitted stories for balance, fairness and originality. The ratings will be featured in a news feed for members. (See the NewsTrust 'about' section for more on how it works.)

Fabrice Florin, founder of NewsTrust, is a former journalist and programmer. In an interview with The Editors Weblog, Florin said he hopes the Web site will ultimately reduce inaccuracies in news stories.

Florin also said newspapers have approached him with requests for NewsTrust ratings at the end of their news articles.  Publications may also be able to add a NewsTrust button to their Web site, and reviewers will be able to immediately rate articles and submit it to the NewsTrust system. The site is still in beta phase, but Florin expects a full launch in early 2007, he said.

"The new rating method was developed with Michigan State University so that 'amateur citizen reviewers using the site’s unique review tools are able to evaluate news as reliably as experienced professionals,'" NewTrust team member Roy O'Connor said in a NewAssignment.net posting.

The question remains whether reviewers will be able to put their own biases aside -- or whether NewsTrust will be able to take those biases into account somehow.

Worthwhile reading about the project:

Media is Plural: Rory O'Connor gives an inside look at trying to fund the project while avoiding conflicts of interest.

The Editors Weblog: Florin gives some background on figuring out the answer to "what is quality journalism?" and his motivation for starting the site.

NewAssignment.net: David Cohn evaluates the ratings system and potential future tools in the NewsTrust service.