News Outlets That Don’t Suck
Get the good news.
If the show “Mad Men” were made in modern times, we imagine Don Draper pitching a full conference room in Silicon Valley, waxing poetic about emotion and engagement and closing with a steely glare as he says, staring into the camera, “outrage sells.” It’s a poorly kept secret that most every media and social media enterprise has figured out the way to win over your precious attention: by enraging you. Is it any wonder we’ve tuned out the news? Your outrage antidote is here, in the form of news sources that won’t make you want to spit out your morning coffee.
Quieter insights.
Having worked in cable news, journalist Jessica Yellin knows a thing or two about getting your heart rate up. That’s why we’re so glad she started News Not Noise, whose tagline is “We give you information—not a panic attack.” Yellin converses with experts and uses explainers to break down big issues into digestible pieces. Talk about a chilling effect on your insta feed.
Your morning coffee.
A business newsletter in premise, we’ve been downing Morning Brew from its early days. Since most everything ultimately impacts the markets and economy, it tends to provide a great round-up of the biggest stories (with some fun, zeitgeisty stuff thrown in for kicks). In the style of outlets like Axios and The Skimm—but without the twee tone of the latter—the writers go for brevity and a little wit. It gives our knowledge of world events a little jolt on the daily.
Give and take.
If the idea of a podcast that pairs a former Obama Staffer with a Libertarian New York Post columnist gives you “Hardball” flashbacks—never fear. The podcast Lost Debate aims to combat polarization and misinformation. Twice a week, the hosts take on current news and ideas like real grown-ups, with a good-faith discussion. It will make you long for the lost—at least among a plurality of the media—art of persuasion.
See it in 3D.
Allsides.org offers a one-stop shop so good it just may move you, like us, to support it with a donation. For every current news topic, the site shows you how it’s covered by left-, center- and right-leaning media sources. In our earnest effort to break out of our biases, we love to toggle between the three different takes to get a full picture of the various viewpoints.
