I spent considerable time exploring and thinking about this last week – Microsoft Edge warns people that visit the Daily Mail news source in the United Kingdom.
Here’s a sample of the story –
Even Microsoft Edge thinks the Daily Mail website is an untrustworthy source of news
I was curious and so tried to replicate it here and couldn’t — at least I went into the settings and turned on NewsGuard. I revisited the Daily Mail website and, sure enough, I was now warned.
That really was a surprise.
I’m a big Formula 1 fan and, when in season, appreciate the efforts that European news sources put into stories and making them available. It gets far better coverage that what we do here.
The Daily Mail is one of my stops when checking things out. It stands out from the rest because there are no short and to the point headline titles. Everything is identified with a paragraph to entice you to read more.
Of course, I had to head over and determine just what gives News Guard the credibility that it has such that Microsoft would want to include the feature in its browser. You can read about how it works here.
It’s not just available for Bing. It’s an extension that’s available for most of the major browsers. Chrome download here. (Currently ~30K users)
I turned Edge around to look at some Canadian news sites. The Toronto Star was rated green, so presumably OK. The Toronto Sun, Globe and Mail, and Windsor Star have not been rated by News Guard yet. You are given the option to submit that resource for review.
At this point, I can’t really make a really strong opinion based on my personal news scoping. I do know that the tabloid magazines (Red Tops) tend to grab your attention at the checkout line at a grocery store with sensational headlines. I decided to check out some of the other tabloid sources from the United Kingdom and noted that they were currently under review. I checked out the Tabloid that I think we all know of when we think tabloid and it returned the same warning message.
What does this mean – would I use it as a way to validate the site that I’m currently reading? What about schools? Does having this in their browser turn them away from a source that’s red flagged? I suppose the biggest question is about the standards that are used when evaluating a news source. Are certain sources held as credible because of politics or is it purely objective?
Has anyone else read about this and given it some thought? I’d be interested in your thoughts. Please share them via comment below.
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doug --- off the record 