The Trust Project · Website and information design
How do you help billions of readers tell what news to trust?
The Trust Project, founded by journalist Sally Lehrman and funded by Craig Newmark, Google and Facebook, gives readers a right to know where their news comes from. Its site had to explain that idea to readers, newsrooms, teachers and funders, and stay neutral for all of them.
- Website
- Information design
- Resources hub
- Partner network
Question
The challenge
A big mission. Many audiences.
Neutral by design
A project about trust cannot look partisan or alarmist. The site had to feel calm, factual and impartial.
Four kinds of visitor
Readers, newsrooms, teachers and funders each come for something different, and none of them should wade through the rest.
A complex idea, simply
Eight Trust Indicators, global partners and tech integrations, explained in plain words on a single page.
The approach
Plain words, a global stage.
Every page answers one question for one audience. The eight Trust Indicators are spelled out as questions anyone can ask, a world map shows where newsrooms have signed on, and black and white newsprint imagery keeps the tone impartial.
Explain
The website
Scroll through it the way a visitor would.
The The Trust Project website, section by section
The mission in one line
“We help over three billion people easily assess the integrity of news worldwide.” Then a clear call to support it.
Integrity, explained plainly
What the project is, who built it and why it matters, next to a short video for anyone who would rather watch.
Eight questions anyone can ask
The eight Trust Indicators, from “Who funds the site?” to “Can you provide feedback?”, laid out as a simple grid.
A map of who’s on board
Newsrooms in more than 20 countries, pinned on one map, so the reach is obvious at a glance.
300+ newsrooms, in plain sight
From the BBC and Newsweek to local papers, every partner logo is shown together. Proof that the standard is real.
Mobile
The same clarity in your hand
Most people meet the news on a phone, so the mission, the eight indicators and the partner wall all stack into one easy column.
- Each indicator is a short list of questions
- Hundreds of partner logos, one scroll
- Join, donate or share at the end
Spread
A project about trust has to be trustworthy itself. Every page is calm, factual and plain, so readers, newsrooms and teachers can each find what they need.
The brand
Serious, impartial and clear
Black and white newsprint portraits set a serious, impartial tone. A clean sans serif keeps every page easy to scan, and a single burnt orange marks calls to action, so nothing competes with the message.
The answer
A trusted home for a global standard
The Trust Project today
- 0+news sites in the partner networkFrom the BBC and Newsweek to local papers
- 0Trust Indicators, explained for everyoneQuestions any reader can ask of a news site
- 0tech partners use the indicatorsGoogle, Facebook and Bing
A teacher can find lesson material, an editor can find the standards and a journalist can find the research, each without wading through content meant for someone else. And the partner wall shows, at a glance, how far the idea has spread.
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