Left, Right, and Center: How Tangle News Brings Clarity to the Chaos
Sometimes you hear a podcast so good you must share it with all your favorite communications professionals. That was what we thought when we heard a recent episode of Question Everything, as shared by This American Life.
On The EO Report, we’ve talked about the importance of understanding the bias of our media sources – how the same set of facts can be used to tell a completely different story based on the interpretation and viewpoint of the author.
On an episode titled, “A Small Thing That Gives Me a Tiny Shred of Hope,” we are introduced to Tangle News, a free newsletter that sends four editions a week. They have also premium version with additional editions.
What makes Tangle News unique?
Tangle News dives deep into one topic a day, seeking to provide unbiased clarity on a single issue. To do so, they provide headlines from the left, headlines from the right, and an analysis from their own perspective.
“Why should you trust us? If I were you, I wouldn't. Media outlets face all sorts of challenges today, from overt bias to corporate interests to the basic dereliction of good journalistic practices.
But we earn our readers' trust in a very simple way: By providing views from across the political spectrum in every single edition, and clearly labeling what is opinion and what isn't.
This is not ‘both sidesism’ or giving equal weight to conspiracies and facts. Instead, we search the world for the best arguments we can about the debates of the day, and then we show them to you. Side-by-side. So you can decide.”
Why does this matter?
A 2023 University of Rochester study found that media bias has been growing since 2014. AllSides, whose famous media bias chart we have referred to on the EO Report, has also noticed shifts in bias from various media outlets. (By the way, AllSides places Tangle News directly in the center of their rating.)
As consumers of media, the podcast episode points out, when we read different sources through different filters, it’s difficult to have a conversation. Tangle News seeks to bridge the political divide and find common ground through facts agreed on by all sides.
Transparency, transparency, transparency.
To hold a brand based on being unbiased, Tangle News has to build an unbelievable amount of trust with their audience. How do they do this, especially with such a fractured media landscape?
They clearly label their opinions in every edition.
They have a transparent editorial policy, and they share the changes they decide to make based on new information or a shifting language landscape.
When they have a correction, they list it at the very top of their next newsletter, along with their total number of corrections across the life of their newsletter.
They have a transparent advertising policy.
Language matters.
Tangle News also understands that language choices inherently communicate bias. Again, from the Tangle News website:
“We try to make the most thoughtful, neutral decisions we can with our language choices. You can read about some of them here.”
Before We Go…
Podcasts played a larger role in our election than ever before. Here’s some data from the Pew Research Center on the rise in the format’s popularity:
“In 2023, Roughly half of U.S. adults say they have listened to a podcast in the past year, according to a new Pew Research Center survey, including one-in-five who report listening to podcasts at least a few times a week. Among adults under 30, about a third listen to podcasts with such frequency.” Read more.
Last week, The Onion won a bid to acquire all InfoWars assets. The founder of the satirical news site wrote a letter explaining his decision to acquire the company in a manner that encapsulates the voice of his platform (riddled with sarcasm). Note: The acquisition has been halted by a judge to review the bankruptcy process before proceeding.
In case you missed it, our founder Erin Owen was featured on 6 News WOWT encouraging citizens to be mindful of misinformation.
A similar message came from the Nebraska Examiner highlighting the role of tech in this year's election campaigns.