Congratulations to Sunlight grantee NewsTrust.net. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation awarded the ‘Web 2.0′ news review service a hefty multi-year grant. The goal of NewsTrust.net is to help citizens find and evaluate good journalism online. Fabrice Florin, a former executive at Apple and Macromedia, founded NewsTrust.net as a response to the explosion of web-based media outlets.

Media consolidation and growing distrust of mainstream media are creating "a range of problems for democracy," Florin said in a press release released today, "(including) information overload, misinformation, mistrust and civic apathy." NewsTrust.net provides tools that allow users to filter news, evaluate news stories and reporting, and share stories with other users. The site’s focus is on the quality of reporting, not popularity. The whole idea is to help citizens stay informed and engaged in the democratic process. This is a very exciting moment for the good people there. Congrats to them!