Browser extension NewsGuard lists five separate news publications as credible even though they have had multiple corrections, misleading, and even false stories, which calls into question NewsGuard’s ability to reputable news sources.
Newsguard, the purportedly non-partisan browser extension aimed at rating the trustworthiness of news websites, is created and backed by a founding team and advisory board filled to the brim with neoconservatives and Obama-Clinton alumni.
NewsGuard, the news publication ranking extension run by establishment media figures along with former Clinton, Obama and Bush administration members, has rated a number of websites which wrongly attacked the students of Covington Catholic High School as “trustworthy.”
In a March 2018 interview with NewsGuard Executive Editor James Warren, establishment conservative Bill Kristol correctly noted that NewsGuard, an app and browser plug-in which allows users to avoid what it considers “fake news” websites, would face skepticism since “establishment people” like “establishment websites.” NewsGuard has added Breitbart News, the Drudge Report, and the Daily Mail to its “fake news” blacklist.
Without consulting with its users, Microsoft has installed an establishment media browser extension, purportedly designed to rate the accuracy of news websites, as a default setting on mobile versions of its Edge browser. In practice, it creates a news blacklist by warning users away from sites including Breitbart News, The Drudge Report, and the Daily Mail.
