The head of the press watchdog in the UK has come up with an odd way to deal with the issue of trust online.

Sir Christopher Meyer, chairman of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) has called for a digital kitemark for news sites, because there is a “crying need to be able to distinguish between what is rubbish and what is quality, between what is fantasy and what reliable”.

Sir Christopher talked about having “a small PCC logo will be visible in a corner of the screen on every electronic page of every British newspaper and magazine”.

This is misguided on several levels. For starters, it smacks of regulation of the media by an agency of the state. Then there is the issue of who decides and how on which sites merit this kitemark. If both the tabloid The Sun and the BBC News site have the log, does that mean both are as reliable and trustworthy? Obviously not.

Trust and reliable is an issue online, but not in the way that Sir Christopher envisages it. People tend to place an implicit trust in an established news brand, even though studies show that half of all news stories contain at least one error.

Online, trust is based not so much on the credential, as on the contribution. Without the backing of an established news brand, a new site relies on the strength of its content. If this content proves to be useful or of value, then its readership will grow.

And if the internet has shown us anything, it is that there is room for a spectrum of journalism, from quality reporting to gossip and salacious comment. Surely a reader can tell the difference? The idea of a kitemark also implies that readers can’t distinguish between a news story that is the product of research and reporting, and a rant on a blog.