Self-appointed news media truth arbiter NewsGuard has not downgraded any mainstream press organization’s trust rating, despite several of those outlets labeling the now-infamous Hunter Biden laptop story “disinformation” just before the 2020 election.
The Washington Post, USA Today and German-owned Politico were among the outlets to dismiss the story as possible disinformation, according to the Media Research Center.
The laptop turned out to be completely real, as were its contents, as re-confirmed by The New York Times last week – a year and a half after The New York Post initially confirmed its authenticity.
NewsGuard’s General Manager Matt Skibinski, after noting that he did not “have time for a long back-and-forth” conversation today, told The Tennessee Star the following:
NewsGuard’s ratings evaluate the overall credibility and transparency practices of each publication. In the course of our evaluations, we look at a wide range of the site’s content to answer questions such as whether the site repeatedly publishes false content, distinguishes news and opinion responsibly, discloses its ownership and financing, and the like. While a single story generally does not determine a site’s rating, if a site claimed the laptop was proven not to belong to Hunter Biden, that is certainly something we would take into account in our rating–especially if that lapse were part of a broader pattern of publishing false or distorted claims. Our ratings are transparent, and our specific rationale for each site’s rating is explained in detail in our Nutrition Label for each site. Ultimately, readers can view our detailed explanations and judge for themselves whether or not they agree.
Asked whether anonymous sourcing, used by many of the mainstream press outlets to challenge the veracity of the Biden laptop story, was a consideration in NewsGuard’s trustworthiness ratings, Skibinski confirmed that the practice does not inherently violate the criteria.
“Quoting or citing anonymous sources does not, in and of itself, violate any of our criteria – though a site that mainly or exclusively relies on anonymous sources and exhibits a regular pattern of publishing false or distorted claims as a result would likely fail on some of our criteria,” he said.
As reported by The Star, NewsGuard’s own CEO Steve Brill appeared on CNBC, where he suggested that the laptop story could be Russian disinformation.
Asked whether Americans should continue to trust NewsGuard as the arbiter of media truth, the company did not respond directly.
_ _ _
Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Matt Skibinski” by Matt Skibinski.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include that NewsGuard’s General Manager Matt Skibinski said he did not “have time for a long back-and-forth.”
