Intelligent Quality Assessment Model of News Sites (NEWSQUAL)

Effective measurements and accurate analysis of the quality of news sites are the necessary steps in improving the sites’ performance and reporting methods. The present research was conducted to propose an intelligent quality assessment method for news sites. This study consists of two parts. In the first part, the Delphi technique as a qualitative method is used to identify the indicators for assessing the quality of news sites. For this purpose, 5 dimensions, 69 indicators, and several sub-criteria from five perspectives of design and graphic design, content, technical system, services, and executive management of news sites were identified. Subsequently, the quality of 61 news sites was calculated and the quality score of each site was obtained using a questionnaire. In the second part, a neural network model was designed with 9 inputs and one output. The results and the values of Mean Squared Error (MSE) indicate the validity of the proposed model.