Isaac Saul is a politics reporter who grew up in suburban Pennsylvania and has lived and reported all over the world. He has written for Daily Mail, HuffPost, New York Daily News, Vox, and many others. These days, though, he runs Tangle, an independent, ad-free, nonpartisan political newsletter distributed on Substack, a newsletter distribution platform with features that enable you to build an audience and generate income.

In this podcast interview, Isaac talks about the state of political journalism, finding an audience without a network backbone, the exploding media platform technology, and more.

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Political journalism in today’s world

During much of the past five years, there was an almost steady stream of hard news for American journalists, with the volatile political scene constantly generating buzz and driving cable news network ratings skyward. And even though the change in leadership has resulted in a noticeably more predictable, behaved administration, the landscape for political journalism appears to have changed significantly.

Describing himself as a former “viral news writer trying to drive traffic,” Isaac shares his insights on political journalism in our interview. He noted two shifts in the way audiences consume news: a strong, growing distrust for the mainstream media on both sides of the political spectrum, and a spike in reader engagement leading up to the 2020 elections.

https://youtu.be/-0jtC_RrLOM

“I go where the conversation’s going, and I think, as a result, I have like a pretty broad view and perspective of what's happening in the country,” says Isaac. “I definitely feel more comfortable in certain places than others, but national politics, for sure, is my beat.”

Isaac saw the changing landscape as an opportune moment to launch his independent political journalism initiative. Tangle is a daily newspaper that subscribers receive for free Monday through Thursday — and so far, the response has been great. “The concept of the newsletter is really simple,” Isaac explains. “You're gonna get views from across the political spectrum on whatever the big story of the day is.” In addition, Isaac also answers a reader question in every newsletter, features an important or heavy story, and ends it with a “good news” story (“A little positive to wash it all down.”

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Isaac reveals that Tangle does not get much traffic from Facebook, Twitter, or any similar platforms. For him, this aligns with his goal of helping people get out of their bubbles and break out of their echo chambers. “Most people I know log on to social media, and they get nothing but views and tweets and posts that reinforce their political beliefs. So I don't rely on Facebook for traffic. I don't rely on Twitter for traffic. I rely entirely on word of mouth.” And the numbers don’t lie: From 50 subscribers, Tangle has now grown to 21,000 daily readers in less than two years. “I am doing everything I can to not be incentivized by those algorithms, because I think they're a big part of the problem.”

A recent episode of the Earned Media Podcast with atmospheric scientist Michael Mann highlighted the behavior of paid online trolls on polarizing articles, often filling comment sections with falsehoods and vitriol. Isaac’s solution? You can only comment on Tangle newsletters if you’re a paying subscriber. “It's really the people who are invested in what the newsletter’s mission is, and invested in being exposed to views that they might not agree with,