Tangle

About Tangle's Bias Rating

Tangle is a news media source with an AllSides Media Bias Rating™ of Center.

What a "Center" Rating Means

Sources with an AllSides Media Bias Rating of Center either do not show much predictable media bias, display a balance of articles with left and right biases, or equally balance left and right perspectives.

Center doesn't mean better! A Center media bias rating does not necessarily mean a source is totally unbiased, neutral, perfectly reasonable, or credible, just as Left and Right don't necessarily mean extreme, wrong, unreasonable, or not credible. AllSides encourages people to read outlets across the political spectrum.

Tangle's Editorial Policy Avoids Word Choice Bias: May 2023 Independent Review

An AllSides review of Tangle's updated Editorial Policies, released May 12, 2023, found the news outlet gave special care and attention to avoiding bias, particularly, word choice bias.

On the issue of immigration, Tangle opted for the term "unauthorized migrant" (to refer to someone who crossed into the U.S. illegally) or "unauthorized immigrant" (to refer to an immigrant who is in the U.S. without legal status), in order to avoid polarizing terms such as "illegal alien" (seen as dehumanizing on the left) or "undocumented immigrant" (seen as softening the illegality of the act). 

On the issue of transgender treatments, Tangle opted for the terms “transgender health care” or “gender therapy," reasoning that the term "gender-affirming care" "is too broad while also ceding central tenets of the debate."

On the issue of capitalizing racial signifiers black and white (AP style urges newsrooms to capitalize Black, but not white) Tangle opted to not capitalize either, writing, "we will be leaving both black and white lower-case to emphasize the function of the words as a description of skin color, and de-emphasize their importance as a description of race." Tangle took issue with AP's argument that black refers to a shared sense of identity, community, and history of people of the African diaspora and that white people "generally do not share the same history and culture." Tangle ultimately agreed with Glenn Loury, who said disparate groups that constitute “whites” don’t comprise a single people, so all the disparate groups that constitute “blacks" do not, either.

On the issue of COVID-19, Tangle opted to differentiate between how many people died from or with the virus. 

On the issue of mass shootings, Tangle opted to "1) Avoid naming the shooter, so we are not making them any more famous than they will already be, and 2) Avoid sharing their motivations, so we are not platforming extremist ideas that can incite more violence."

On the issue of abortion, Tangle opted to "generally defer to the language a group uses for themselves, but will exercise our own judgment in using the terms pro-choice, anti-abortion, abortion rights supporters, or abortion rights opponents where appropriate."

For the full breakdown of Tangle's policies, click here.

Tangle Rated Center in October 2022 Small Group Editorial Review

An AllSides October 2022 Small Group Editorial Review returned a bias rating of Center for Tangle. Three panelists from the left, center, and right all observed balanced story choice, with sections labeled “What the left is saying” and “What the right is saying.” Articles always included a balance of three perspectives on each side, then concluded with a section labeled “My take,” in which Tangle founder Isaac Saul outlined his opinion on the issue. All perspectives were clearly labeled. Panelists evaluated Saul’s personal takes to be slightly left of center. 

All panelists noted that story choice and word choice were balanced to include perspectives from both the right and the left, such as this article on student debt. One story on immigration used the terms “illegal immigrant” and “migrant” in equal measure, which a panelist on the left noted as a balanced use of language. Another article addressed left-wing criticism of right-leaning Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (in particular, their “cries of 'fascism’”) as “overblown” while explaining the tension between the traditional Italian nationalists and the “recent dominance” of left-leaning politics in the country. A panelist from the center noted a strong analysis of arguments from the left and the right in this article about the lawsuit filed against former President Donald Trump by Letitia James. 

Most articles relied heavily on facts, such as this article about the pandemic, which distinguished between those who died from COVID-19 as opposed to those who died with COVID-19 – a distinction the panel applauded, noting this distinction is not often made by other media outlets. All panelists noted the lack of sensationalism, spin, and slant in headlines, which were straightforward:

• The situation on the border.
• Biden says pandemic is over. 
• Forgiving student debt. 

Saul’s personal bias, which he always explicitly labeled in the “My take” section, leaned left of center and was often nuanced. He said he is pro-choice: “I think the government should have an extremely limited role in regulating the practice,” and said the best way to reduce abortions “is to popularize secular sexual education, make birth control cheap and effective, and improve access to women's health care.” He noted that “many of my readers disagree” with him on abortion.

May 2022 Independent Review Returns Center Rating

An independent review of Tangle in May 2022 conducted by AllSides Managing Editor Henry A. Brechter (Center bias) noted a strong effort to present both sides of issues in a non-sensational and respectful way.

Top of Page

As of September 2023, people have voted on the AllSides Media Bias Rating for Tangle. On average, those who disagree with our rating think this source has a Center bias.

As of September 2023, AllSides has low or initial confidence in our Center rating for Tangle. If we perform more bias reviews and gather consistent data, this confidence level will increase.

Additional Information

About Tangle

Tangle's About page says it is "a non-partisan politics newsletter read by 50,000 readers in 55+ countries across the world." [Retrieved Oct. 7, 2022] "We summarize the best arguments from the right and the left on one big debate in American politics every day. We're 100% independent, with no ads and no investors. All of our revenue comes from reader subscriptions and donations." It was created in 2020.

Top of Page