Poynter takes down database meant to spotlight fake news and biased sources

UPDATE: May 3, 2019, 4:22 p.m. PDT Poynter has shut down UnNews, its database highlighting unreliable news sites, after discovering inconsistencies between sources used to build the database and its final report.

After receiving complaints, Poynter conducted an audit and "found weaknesses in the methodology" used to categorize 515 news sites, according to a letter from editor Barbara Allen. "We regret that we failed to ensure that the data was rigorous before publication, and apologize for the confusion and agitation caused by its publication," Allen wrote.

As a result, Mashable has removed references to specific sites featured in the database from this story.

UnNews may return once Poynter can provide a "more consistent and rigorous set of criteria."

Original story:

There's a new tool to help you refute all the fake news your aunt posts on Facebook.

It's called "UnNews" and it's the product of the International Fact-Checking Network, a wing of the Poynter Institute, a nonprofit journalism school. As the 2020 election cycle heats up, it aims to battle fake news by educating people about websites that traffic in fake news, biased news, and even satire.

Spearheaded by Barrett Golding, the index brings together five lists about unreliable sources already "curated by established journalists or academics" and cuts any sites that are no longer active.

Here are the lists currently being used:

FactCheck.org’s Misinformation Directory (FC), created by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

Fake News Codex (FN), widely quoted by Snopes and others, maintained by web developer and data designer Chris Herbert.

OpenSources (OS), run by Merrimack University media studies professor Melissa Zimdars.

PolitiFact’s Fake News Almanac (PF), by PolitiFact, a joint project of the Tampa Bay Times and Poynter.

Snopes’ Field Guide to Fake News Sites and Hoax Purveyors (SN), created by Snopes, the oldest and largest online fact-checking organization.

The index includes additional information for each site, including which of the above lists the site was flagged by and adds tags that help specifically categorize each site: bias, clickbait, conspiracy, fake, satire, and unreliable. More on their methodology is available here.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

While experienced web users will already recognize many sites on the list (particularly satire sites like Reductress and the Onion-produced Clickhole), it's a thorough and easy-to-navigate database that will help give less savvy readers a bit more background on their news sources.

Golding told Mashable in an email that he's working on the next version of the database, though there's no release date set yet. It will include an additional 300-plus sites and "be much more interactive with more data."

For now, though, you can feel confident clicking through to links and debating your family about biased news with UnNews in your back digital pocket.

UPDATE: May 3, 2019, 5:08 p.m. EDT A previous version of this story incorrectly identified Bill Palmer as "Robert Palmer." We regret the error.