In an everyone-is-a-journalist age, we're going to need all the help we can get to assess the credibility of sources. More than likely in the collaborative age, this assessment will be increasingly crowd-sourced and not simply produced through market forces.
Which is why NewsCred is an intriguing addition to the public sphere. The Geneva-based site uses tech to permit users to vote on which sources are credible and which ones aren't, and from that it derives a rating system. In the process it provides a Digg-like ranking of top stories and blogs to consume. Nothing dissimilar to, say, a TripAdvisor or some such service. It reminds me a little of the Steven Brill ahead-of-its-time All-Star Newspaper, long since demised --- the only difference being his team assembled the paper, whereas this is generated by audience forces.
Now, naturally this system is wide open to manipulation. It's likely some people who disagree with a blog will suggest it lacks credibility, and some news sources (ahem, Fox) are likely to get all sorts of finger-waggling ratings.
But it'll be interesting to see if the overall philosophy of the service --- to find and deliver the most credible news content and blogs --- overpowers the folks who try to thwart it. In that way it's a test of the 2.0 ethos of collaboration and conversation.
If nothing else, it's a fun tool.
