JournalList Expands Trust.txt Initiative to Give More Than 1,100 Audited Publishers Complimentary Access

Alliance for Audited Media is among the first associations to offer all its publishers a free JournalList membership

LISLE, Ill. (August 2, 2023) -- JournalList, the non-profit organization that launched the Trust.txt initiative, has announced it will expand its program to allow all publishers from its association members to participate in the initiative at no cost. The Alliance for Audited Media (AAM), a not-for-profit media auditor, is one of the first organizations to take advantage of this offer of a complimentary JournalList membership with full benefits to its publisher members. AAM’s membership now includes publishers audited by BPA Worldwide, which recently merged with AAM.

“We are excited to partner with JournalList to offer this benefit to our publishers and encourage them to participate in this program designed to bring greater transparency to media,” said Tom Drouillard, AAM’s CEO and managing director. “As a member of JournalList, we are furthering our mission of helping elevate publishers and associations committed to trust and assurance.”

At a time when there are growing concerns about ads running on made for advertising sites (MFAs), generated by AI or promoting misinformation, it is more important than ever for advertisers to know where their ads are shown to protect their brands and support quality journalism. Trust.txt provides transparency by creating machine-readable files that advertisers, tech platforms and search engines can easily access to make connections between quality publishers and the industry organizations and associations to which they belong.

“We are proud to expand our partnership with AAM to include more audited publishers in the Trust.txt program,” said Mark Stencel, JournalList’s executive director. “There is strength in numbers and having more publishers included in the program and AAM’s support will only scale the program and enhance its effectiveness for all participants.”

AAM joined JournalList in March 2022 and began participating in Trust.txt along with other industry organizations such as Digital Content Next, the Association of Alternative News Media and regional press associations to provide a collective signal of trust to help quality publishers stand out in a crowded digital market. As part of the program, AAM hosts a Trust.txt file on auditedmedia.com that lists more than 1,100 of its audited print and digital publishers from the U.S. and Canada, and encourages publishers to host their own Trust.txt files, which can be cross-referenced with AAM’s file to make it easy for advertisers to find trusted publishers. As JournalList members, these publishers can receive a complimentary Trust.txt file customized to their domain to maximize the impact of their participation.

To learn more about the program, visit JournalList.

About JournalList

JournalList is the nonprofit manager of trust.txt — a standard for expressing relationships of trust in a machine-readable file that is decentralized and controlled by each individual publisher online. This digital framework makes it easy to build a Trust.txt file that helps digital platforms and marketers clearly see a news site’s affiliations with other journalism organizations, media groups and industry associations. To learn more, visit JournalList.net.

About the Alliance for Audited Media

The Alliance for Audited Media powers transparency and collaboration between North America’s leading media professionals. With more than 100 years of experience in print and digital media audits, AAM is the industry’s recognized leader in cross-media verification with unparalleled expertise across all brand platforms including web, mobile, email and print. In 2023 AAM merged with BPA Worldwide to become the largest not-for-profit media auditing organization dedicated to increasing trust and assurance across media channels. To learn how AAM brings trust and transparency to today’s media ecosystem, visit auditedmedia.com.

Media Contacts

Mark Stencel, JournalList

703-407-0742

Erin Boudreau, Alliance for Audited Media

224-366-6934