What Is the Source Score—and Why It’s the Future of Journalism

Imagine this: you’re reading an article, and right at the top, there’s a simple badge—Source Score: . Immediately, you know you’re looking at something that meets the highest threshold for truth, transparency, and sourcing integrity. No fluff, no spin, no AI-generated hallucinations. Just solid reporting.

That’s the future we’re building with Source Score—and here’s why we need it now more than ever.

The Problem: We’re Drowning in Opinion Masquerading as News

The modern media environment doesn’t reward truth. It rewards reach. That means headlines optimized for clicks, not clarity. Opinions dressed up as reporting. And “anonymous sources” used as shields for speculation.

But the public still craves facts. Readers want to know: who said this, where’s the data, and can I trust it? The Source Score is our answer to that demand.

A recent Gallup study revealed that trust in U.S. mass media remains near historic lows, with only 34% of Americans expressing a great deal or fair amount of confidence. Meanwhile, Statista visualized this decline over time, making it clear that public trust has been eroding for years.

To see how we’ve built a better trust benchmark, explore The Source Score: Redefining Trust in Hyperlocal Journalism.

What Is the Source Score?

The Source Score is a five-star metric that measures how well a news article is sourced. It’s not an opinion about the topic, and it doesn’t judge political slant. It simply evaluates: How well is this story backed up by verified sources?

It’s engineered—not editorialized.

Here’s how it works:

(5 Stars): Source Excellence

The article either quotes a direct authority (e.g., “The President of the United States said…”) or
Every factual claim is clearly attributed, linked, and validated with direct sources or data.
There is zero ambiguity about what is opinion and what is fact.

(4 Stars): Strong Sourcing, Some Inference

The article includes primary sources, data, or quotes, but may mix in some analysis or interpretation.
Sourcing is solid, but not airtight or perfectly transparent.

(3 Stars): Mixed Sourcing

The article references outside quotes or facts, but also blends in editorialization or commentary.
Some sources may be unnamed or indirect.

(2 Stars): Weak Sourcing

There may be a single quote or link, but the majority of the piece is speculative or opinion-driven.
Sources are vague or secondary.

(1 Star): Opinion Disguised as Fact

The article lacks any real sourcing or attribution.
It’s more narrative than news—driven by bias or perspective without evidence.

This scale creates accountability for journalists, transparency for readers, and a powerful filter for anyone trying to separate fact from fiction in today’s noisy media ecosystem.

To understand how this standard is scored in practice, check out Digital Basics Audit + Source Formula = Source Score.

Why It Matters

he Source Score is a trust filter in a world that desperately needs one. Here’s what it enables:

Readers can instantly know how credible a story is—no more guessing.
Publishers who do the hard work of ethical journalism get rewarded.
Advertisers can finally align their budgets with trustworthy content—not just trending noise.
AI models can be trained using verified, source-scored data—boosting reliability across platforms.

As detailed by the Reuters Institute, the trend toward mistrust has pushed younger generations to turn to independent and social-first sources. The Pew Research Center has echoed these findings, noting a sharp decline in the perceived fairness of legacy outlets.

And more importantly: it’s a way to re-engineer journalistic standards using the precision of engineering, not the subjectivity of opinion. Every Source Score is powered by a logic framework and a repeatable scoring system. There’s no editorial “vibe” here—just validation.

To see why this matters at scale, read Engineering Integrity into Journalism: This Is Our Mission.

Why We Built It

At DodsonMC, and across EmpowerLocal and SourceLocalMedia, we’ve always believed in restoring integrity to the media. The Source Score is a core part of that mission.

It’s not just a rating. It’s a movement.

When every article, every substack, every AI-generated blurb can be judged by a single standard—the question becomes: How well is it sourced? And the answer is visible to all.

That’s the future of trusted media. It’s measurable. It’s accountable. And it’s already here.

Even Business Insider is reporting how legacy media companies are now scrambling to regain credibility—launching transparency campaigns, reader participation tools, and even blockchain records for news claims.

Let Source Score be the signal in the noise.

Truth has a standard now. And it’s ready to be seen.

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