Tool for journalists: Credder, for ranking credible and non-credible articles

Credit: Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

What is it? Credder is an online tool that determines how credible an article is, based on the score and feedback submitted by its website users and verified journalists on social media. It then produces a leaderboard of individual journalists and news organisations.

In a podcast with Journalism.co.uk, CEO Chase Palmieri said: "We're creating the first track-record for journalism in a sense, it's way too intense of a job in today's media landscape for every individual to do their own research and have a sense of the credibility of every author and news organisation.

"News outlets tend to capture the trust and credibility that authors put in towards their platform. Two years later when you go to work for another outlet, you've got nothing to show the trust you've built for that outlet. You need to be able to show your brand as an author."

How much is it? Free

How is it of use to journalists?

At its core, Credder allows users to score an article on its credibility based on a range of values.

You must first set-up an account using your name, email address and Twitter handle (to attribute your review).

By doing this, you can start using Credder features like the recently launched Google Chrome plug-in.

Once you are signed in, you can score an article from any webpage in a few taps or clicks.

You will need to pick a topic for the article from the drop-down menu, score its credibility out of five (in intervals of 0.5), place it in a category ranging from credible to not credible, and then select one of the various reasons why the article fits into that category. You also have the option to add further feedback before submitting your score.

Screenshot: Credder plug-in

Alternatively, you can do this on the website when you are signed in by hitting 'submit article'. It is the very same process, only you are required to enter the URL of the article to start filling out the topic, score and categories.

On the top of the homescreen, you will see all other articles that have been rated by other users with the aggregate score. You will see a 'gold' icon for high Credder scores and a green 'mould' icon for low scores. This is filtered by 'featured news', 'newsworthy this week' and 'in other news', so you can see credible and non-credible sources of news at a glance.

Clicking on an article on the website will allow you to see individual submitted scores and reviews. Critic ratings are taken from social media accounts of verified journalists and signed-up users. If you are signed in, you can also add your review to this article and contribute to its score.

Screenshot: Credder breakdown of article

Accurate as of 25 September 2019

This all informs the Credder leaderboard of authors and news sites which are displayed on the website too and are updated in real time. Clicking on an individual outlet will break down its best scoring journalists and articles, and you can also see which topics fare the best with audiences.

Screenshot: Credder leaderboard

Accurate as of 25 September 2019

Finally, Credder is also running a partner program which allows you to add a snippet of code into your articles so that your readers can rate your article from your website without the need for plug-ins or heading to the credder.com.

Find out how to regain audiences’ trust by driving diversity in your newsroom at Newsrewired on 27 November at Reuters, London. Head to newsrewired.com for the full agenda and tickets

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