Consumer Reports to rate Net news

Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine and ConsumerReports.org, says it plans to rank online news sites. The Yonkers, N.Y.-based nonprofit named Beau Brendler, former editorial director and a founder of ABCNEWS.com, as director of the Web Credibility Project, which aims to create editorial standards, examine trends, and assess credibility of online information.

Funded by grants from the Pew Charitable Trusts, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Open Society Institute, researchers will expose potential mislabeling of advertising and analyze the reliability of financial, health, business and general-interest news sites. "Now more than ever, with Web ventures shutting down every week, consumers need to know that the sites they are relying on for news, vital information and business transactions aren't hiding anything and are doing their jobs in an honest, credible way," Brendler said.