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Unbiased & Reliable News Sources for Real Facts

We’re at a strange place in our society where news and information are available at the touch of a button and from an endless array of sources. Still, their reliability is more suspect than ever before. The digital age has put the power to make thoughts, opinions, and personal agendas publicly available into the hands of the everyday person, and you would be hard-pressed to distinguish whatever they’re putting out there as fact or fiction.

Viafoura’s software suite promotes discussion, engagement, and community establishment around brands and we strive to work only with reputed and trusted digital media brands.

But the amount of misinformation out there makes those few reputed media outlets and brands that much more valuable and necessary. But even amongst more well-known news sources, there’s the unmistakable influence of bias, which forces viewers and readers to take in all provided information through tinted lenses. As a result, digital media brands that genuinely wish to serve as a source of unbiased news and information need to review their policies and approaches towards their publications.

Thankfully, there are still unbiased news sources available on the web that can be relied on to provide factual, objective, and trustworthy content, which including those digital media brands that are working with our digital experience platform. Let’s go over some of the considerations that need to be made when vetting a news source and some places where you can find responsible content.

Can reliable news sources really be completely free of bias?

It’d be fantastic if we could believably claim that even the best new sources were capable of acting wholly neutral and free of all bias. But it’s our opinion that news isn’t really delivered to us intact – it’s reported, which means that someone tells us the story. So maybe when scientists develop some fantastic AI capable of truly neutral reporting, we can expect a sober, entirely unbiased view of what’s happening.

But the news is gathered and given to us by individuals who have their own thoughts, ideas, and perspectives. This fact holds across all facets of news media, from television to newspaper columns to web articles. Digital media brands may strive to keep up to high standards and function as neutral news sources, but it is still the individual that shapes the message of each article and feature story.

And bias isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Opinion articles are often some of the most popular posts made on news outlets because they resonate more strongly with certain readers and spark responses and counterarguments from others. Our Conversations and Community Chat features find the most use on pages like these that prompt discussions and stimulate healthy and civil discourse. The issue arises when bias prompts certain digital media brands to spread misleading and non-factual information as the whole story.

How do you determine if a source provides unbiased news?

We’ve established that unbiased news sources are essential but also harder to distinguish from those that skew the facts and details for their benefit. But it might not be clear how everyday individuals can make sure they’re looking in the right places for their news. So here’s a checklist that you can use to determine if the source you’re looking at is likely to be offering unbiased news.

References or Publication in Libraries

Libraries work on a non-profit basis, and as such, have no reason to push an agenda or skew the facts towards a specific interpretation. News details that can be corroborated with articles in library databases are much more reliable as news sources. These sources will make it very clear if any part of their information is based on their perspective or opinion.

Pulitzer Prize-Winning outlets

Newspapers, magazines, or websites that have earned the Pulitzer prize have met the awarding committee’s criteria for excellence in news reporting and journalism. Any member of this group can be considered an excellent source of unbiased news that’s sure to give you the facts from as objective a standpoint as possible.

Outline their sources when possible

Some news and media outlets will draw from other resources or references to obtain statements and details, and unbiased news sources will have no problem explaining exactly where they got their information. In addition, reliable new sources offer names, positions, and sometimes even the dated timeframe when they obtained their information. Some of the more academic publications might provide related readings and sources as a supplement to the article.

Top reliable sources for unbiased news

These are some, but not all, of our favourite sources of information for unbiased news in North America, in no particular order. You can’t go wrong with getting your info from these outlets.

CBC

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has had a longstanding reputation as one of Canada’s most reputable and reliable sources. They have recently spoken out on the crisis of faith in journalism and the steps that they have taken to restore it. Their commitment to excellence and factual accuracy in new reporting has stood the test of time, and they remain an excellent source of unbiased news even today.

Toronto Star

Founded in 1892, the Toronto Star has served as the mainstay of journalism and news reporting in one of Canada’s most densely populated regions. They hold highly detailed and admirable journalistic standards that they make publicly available and are committed to accuracy and truth in their publications.

Tribune Publishing

As the head of such illustrious outlets as the Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun, and the Orlando Sentinel, Tribune Publishing is known throughout the East Coast as a digital media brand that works towards responsible and factual reporting in journalism. They have continued to push to inspire and inform communities down to the local level, making them a great source of relevant, unbiased news in their respective areas of publication.

The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Inquirer boasts of almost 200 years of journalism that has been for the benefit of the people. Having won Pulitzer prizes for their high integrity and public-focused brand of new reporting, they continue to act as one of the most trustworthy and dependable new sources available on the web today.

The New York Times

The New York Times has won 132 Pulitzer prizes throughout its publication and is recognized globally within the industry as a newspaper that sets the standard for journalism and news reporting. Even amongst reputed news sources, it is well known for its dedication to getting the facts right and providing an unbiased version of events and information in its reporting. Although recent public views have thrown unnecessary doubt onto their commitment to responsible reporting, the New York Times remains one of the best sources of unbiased news, period.

Takeaway

Reporting on a topic is much easier than it was a few decades ago, and news outlets have become so varied and diverse that it’s difficult to know if you can rely on the news you come across. However, there are still ways that the public can assess the content that’s presented to them to decide on whether it sounds legitimate or not. On top of this, there are still several unbiased news sources that can be relied on to provide news in these uncertain times.

If you’re looking to establish your own digital media brand as a reputable news source, engagement and connection with your community is the key to success. Building a community around your brand will get your audience talking about your credibility and sharing it with their circle of acquaintances, which leads to a higher public opinion of your brand as a whole. Viafoura has several products that we offer as part of our software suite that can help you achieve this engagement and promote your brand as a reliable, unbiased news source. Contact us today to schedule a demo to learn more!

Do You Have What It Takes To Build a Thriving Digital Community?

Every digital audience is flowing with revenue-generating power. Whether that power remains untapped or is harnessed to grow your company depends on how well you can transform your audience into a thriving digital community.

Future plc, for example, grew its online audience by 56% in one year by nurturing its digital communities with worthwhile content and experiences.

But building and sustaining a profitable community online isn’t a simple walk in the park — it requires attention, effort and a carefully-crafted engagement strategy.

If you’re interested in securing loyal brand supporters and additional revenue-generation opportunities, we’ve created a checklist below that outlines everything you need to build a thriving digital community.

1. Social Tools for Your Owned and Operated Properties

2. Re-Engagement and Retention Techniques

3. A Process for Understanding Your Audience

4. Personalized User Experiences Based on First-Party Data

5. Comment Moderation

1. Social Tools for Your Owned and Operated Properties

You can’t form an active digital community if people don’t feel connected to your brand. For this reason, media companies must encourage their audience members to forge strong relationships with one another right on their websites or apps.

Adopting conversation-based engagement tools — like commenting widgets, live chat tools, and live blogs — will allow your company to establish meaningful social connections between your audience members and brand.

A recent analysis of Viafoura data even revealed that people who interact with social tools online have a 20-40% higher retention rate after six months of visiting a site compared to those who do not.

2. Re-Engagement and Retention Techniques

With an abundance of media companies and services competing for your subscriber’s dollar, preventing churn is a constant struggle.

Take video streamers, for example.

According to a survey conducted by Deloitte, consumers paid for around five streaming services in 2020. And yet, nearly half of the consumers surveyed canceled at least one of them that same year.

It’s important to have a strategy in place to re-engage your community members when their engagement levels begin to drop. That way, you can keep people away from your competitors by gently nudging their focus back toward your brand.

Consider working with your engagement tool provider to find out when a user becomes unengaged. Once you identify your inactive subscribers or registrants, you can send out targeted offers and content to re-engage them.

3. A Process for Understanding Your Audience

As is true with any connection in the physical world, the relationship between your company and its community members shouldn’t be one-sided. After all, you can’t expect your audience to give you their loyalty, data or money without getting something valuable in return.

And how could you possibly know what your audience wants if you don’t collect their first-party data, monitor their comments and speak with them to discover their interests?

To fully understand your community members and meet their needs, you’ll also need to turn anonymous visitors into known, registered visitors.

In fact, Piano, a subscription service provider, reports that, on average, registered users are 10x more likely to convert than an anonymous visitor.

Organizations that use a proper identity management system will have a clear, 360-degree view of audience members and their interests.

4. Personalized User Experiences Based on First-Party Data

Once you have a steady stream of first-party audience data coming in, you can draw actionable insights to personalize the on-site experience for your community members.

“This way, audience fragments become super-served niches and loyal viewers become VIP members — who will stick around and pay off in the long term,” explains Rande Price, research director at the Digital Context Next trade organization.

It’s also worth noting that people are hungry for personalized experiences.

According to a research expert on Statista, 90% of U.S. consumers perceive content personalization in marketing to be appealing.

Producing customized experiences around your audience’s behavior will, therefore, keep them coming back to your digital properties for relevant content time and time again.

5. Comment Moderation

Your social tools are critical for forming strong connections between your community members; however, not every internet user will leave positive and productive comments. And unfortunately, toxic comments can damage your digital community.

The Pew Research Center states that one in every ten people will abandon an online service if they see nearby offensive behavior.

Safeguard your brand’s integrity and keep your social spaces inviting by enforcing your community guidelines through an effective moderation system.

We would recommend selecting a moderation system that can immediately detect all 6.5 million variations of each word. It should also be able to evolve alongside your community and understand sentence context for maximum protection.

Whether your end goal is to achieve sustainable revenue growth or simply to serve your audience members better, your success depends on the state of your digital community. The more engaged and connected your community members are, the more valuable they’ll find your membership program or subscription package to be.

The truth is that anyone can create a thriving digital community. All it takes is connecting our business to the right engagement, data-collection and personalization strategies.

What Sets a Community Apart From an Ordinary Audience Online?

Generally, media companies know that their success is dependent on their audience. The better they can meet the needs of consumers, the more their audience is likely to grow.

But having a big audience isn’t the same as having a profitable community.

“It doesn’t matter how many followers you have online if none of them are engaged,” states Stephanie Burns, who runs an online resource for over 100,000 female entrepreneurs.

Without engaging audience members, a dedicated community that sustains your business’ long-term growth is just out of arm’s reach. Instead, brands must meet and exceed visitor expectations at every step of their journey to convince them to stick around in the long run.

So ask yourself the question: Is your brand creating a basic audience or a flourishing, profitable community?

To help you answer the question, here’s everything you need to know to transform your audience into a valuable community.

Defining an Ordinary Audience

When consumers stumble across your content or brand, they typically start as passive audience members — meaning that they will, at most, read your content. There’s no real engagement taking place.

Since passive visitors don’t actively engage with digital properties, they lack long-lasting connections to brands.

With so many competing media companies out there, if you don’t take action to engage and delight your audience with outstanding experiences, they may eventually lose interest altogether in your brand and churn.

An ordinary, unengaged audience holds no long-term loyalty to your brand. This means that an audience can easily break apart as competitors and changes in the world, like the pandemic, come and go.

A small loyal, engaged audience always holds more power and resilience than a large, passive audience.

The Stirling Woods Group consulting company even reports that the small group of consumers who are the most engaged (approximately 10-15% of readers) generates most of the revenue for media companies.

For this reason, it’s in your company’s best interest to help turn ordinary audience members into active, revenue-generating community members.

What a Thriving Community Looks Like

A thriving digital community is the main destination for consumers’ content and experiences — not just a quick stop along the way to another platform.

While an ordinary audience is made up of passive, unengaged content consumers, a digital community is a network of users who actively form meaningful connections with one another. And media companies stand at the center of these relationships.

In other words, a community wants to take part in the experiences and conversations surrounding your company. This sense of connectedness and interest towards a platform is what keeps people coming back and paying for a company’s services.

Yet, profitable communities don’t build themselves.

“People want more than a transactional relationship with a media outlet that just publishes information at them,” says Sean Dagan Wood, CEO of Positive News. Brands must offer audience members extraordinary experiences to position themselves as trusted resources worth consumer time and money.

How to Turn an Audience into a Loyal Community

Having an unengaged, disconnected audience doesn’t mean that a lucrative community is permanently out of reach. Place your existing audience at the center of exciting experiences and engaging conversations to begin the community-building process.

This is a particularly useful way to make audience members feel like they’re a valued part of a community.

“As engagement grows, the community gets smarter, faster to respond, more globally available, and generates more value,” reads an article on Harvard Business Review.

Many companies choose to nurture their communities by offering moderated social spaces on their properties. Others also allow audiences to give feedback and chat directly with content producers to involve them in the content-creation process.

Another way to improve the user experience is to personalize the visitor experience using first-party data. By understanding what your audience members are interested in and adjusting the experience with your brand to suit their behaviors, they’ll be more likely to engage with your properties.

Whether you choose to engage your audience through social tools or unique, personalized experiences, you can build up a profitable community by putting your audience at the center of your brand. After all, the time and support you invest in your community will lead to increased attention levels, better on-site engagement, richer user data and long-term loyalty.