It was operated and co-founded by former Wikimedia Foundation staff member, Fabrice Florin.
[1][2] NewsTrust was first presented as an idea via MoveOn.org, in which MoveOn co-founder Wes Boyd expressed concern about "traditional media...losing" its way.
[5] In 2011, NewsTrust piloted a Baltimore-specific site focused on news local to the Baltimore area.
[6] The Baltimore pilot ended six months after it was launched, although user-submitted content continued to be posted,[7][8] and the NewsTrust mission shifted to a more "fact-checking service"-based model for the 2012 election.
[1] From June 2012 until the website went offline, NewsTrust was owned and operated by The Poynter Institute.