How to spot trustworthy local news — and know when it’s not

It’s happened to all of us. You’re scrolling through your social media feed and see a link to what appears to be a news story, with a startling headline about something happening in your state or community. The text is formatted like a news article, and the website has the name of your town followed by some newspaper-y suffix — the “News” or “Post” or “Crier” or “Gazette.”

If you try to stay informed about what’s happening in your local community these days, you’re probably inundated with a flood of content, some of it more reliable than others.

Fact-based reporting from newspapers and other credible outlets jostles for space online with ideologically motivated websites and low-grade content masquerading as local news — sometimes called “pink slime” journalism.

So how can you tell which sources to trust when it comes to local news? Here are some guiding questions from three longtime New England journalists and media experts.

Does the news outlet have a track record in your community?

Dan Kennedy, a professor of journalism at Northeastern University, says a news outlet’s reputation is a good place to start. Local news organizations that have been around for decades, like newspapers or TV stations, tend to be fairly reliable (even if they’re not perfect).

“Those organizations have a reputation for truthfulness that they’ve built up over time, and they run corrections when they mess up,” Kennedy says. “Now, certainly there are legacy outlets that are not doing a good job, and people have to be aware of that. But nevertheless, I think in those cases you can rely on the brand to some extent.”

That doesn’t mean newer outlets are inherently unreliable, of course. In recent years, a number of high-quality, nonprofit online news outlets have sprung up, often founded by experienced journalists or committed civic leaders.

Those outlets will develop a reputation for trustworthy reporting over time, Kennedy says. Pay attention to what friends, neighbors or community members on Facebook say about it. If a local news outlet is consistently getting things wrong, you’ll probably hear about it.

“If you really know your community, then over time, you're going to be able to determine whether what they're reporting is credible or not,” he said.

Who’s behind the news source, and are they transparent about it?

A credible news organization will be transparent about who’s running it, says Mark Pothier, editor of the Plymouth Independent in Massachusetts. A nonprofit like the Independent, for example, should list its board members on its website and be transparent about its funding sources.

“If that kind of information is not easily findable, to me that's always a warning,” Pothier says. “Or if it's an advocacy group presenting something as news, that's a warning as well.”

Similarly, reporters should be recognizable figures who are out in the community, and the newsroom should have a physical presence locally, says Karen Bordeleau, executive editor of the nonprofit New Bedford Light in Massachusetts.

“You should be able to visit a place — or at least call the editors, talk to reporters,” she says. “You should be able to somehow connect with a human being on the other end.”

Is it clear who’s writing or producing the stories?

Legitimate news sources will include a byline identifying a story’s author. That’s important for accountability, Bordeleau says — it shows a real person wrote the story, and can be contacted if readers spot an error or feel something’s missing.

She says to be wary of stories that don’t have a byline, or list the author as anonymous or simply “staff.”

Are the stories fact-based and rigorously reported?

Stories should cite factual evidence to back up their claims. Linking to government reports, peer-reviewed studies or other reliable sources shows that a story’s spine is “stiff,” as Bordeleau puts it.

“This is why we're saying that this nursing home is the worst in the state — because the Medicare report has all of these conditions and it says it's the worst in the state, and you can read it for yourself,” she says.

Even reliable news outlets will occasionally let a typo through or have to issue a correction. But if a publication is consistently misspelling names, getting facts wrong or even making frequent grammatical errors, Bordeleau says, that should raise questions about its reliability.

Do the stories include multiple perspectives, or do they push a single point of view?

Credible news outlets also talk to people on multiple sides of an issue, and seek comment from those involved.

“If there are factions in a community, and your community news project is reaching out to all factions, that's a good sign,” Kennedy says. “If they are continually channeling one faction and you never really hear the other voice, that is an indication that they are not as credible as they ought to be.”

(Though, as Bordeleau cautions, that doesn’t mean news outlets should strive for “false balance.” Climate-change deniers shouldn’t be given the same weight as climate scientists, for example.)

Credible news outlets also maintain clear separations between news coverage and opinion, and clearly label opinion pieces as opinion.

How is a story written and framed?

The tone of a story can sometimes be a red flag. Pothier says to watch out for “sensationalized language that raises alarm or turns an otherwise kind of ordinary news story into something overly dramatic and alarmist.”

That could indicate a story is being overhyped, possibly to advance an ideological agenda.

Is it written by AI?

Some journalists now use AI as part of their reporting process — for example, to keep tabs on public meetings they can’t attend. But credible news outlets are not using AI to write their news articles, Bordeleau and others say.

“We actually go to primary sources,” Bordeleau says. “We do a lot of work. We don't just scrape stuff and say, ‘Here you go, figure it out yourself.’”

She says any uses of AI, such as a translation feature, are clearly disclosed.

Beware 'pink slime'

As local journalism has dwindled, so-called “pink slime” sites have sprung up in many places.

These are meant to look like the website of a local newspaper — complete with newspaper-esque names like the “Such-and-Such Courier” — but push out low-quality content and are often funded by partisan interests.

Kennedy says they’re often so “lazy” they’re easy to spot, but news consumers should be alert.

“For the most part, it just looks like weird AI garbage that really doesn't have any particular orientation,” he says. “But the fear is, and you do see this happening in a few places, is that they are going to be weaponized as an outlet for political propaganda.”

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This story is part of Know Your News — a Granite State News Collaborative and NENPA Press Freedom Committee initiative on why the First Amendment, press freedom, and local news matter. Don’t just read this. Share it with one person who doesn’t usually follow local news — that’s how we make an impact. More at laconiadailysun.com/knowyournews.