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As a journalist, I follow a lot of different news sources. Only one of them leaves me feeling more at peace after reading it.
Independent Christian media start-up The Pour Over began with an email founder Jason Woodruff sent to six friends. Today, more than 1.6 million people listen to or read it each week.
TPO has grown exponentially because it does good journalism. Its tri-weekly newsletters consist of short news summaries followed by a Scripture-based analysis, a format that clearly differentiates between facts and analysis instead of curating the facts to feed a particular narrative, pointing readers to hope in Christ while allowing them to see the details unmanipulated. Students tired of slanted and discouraging news coverage should read TPO.
The publication summarizes the main stories of the day in brief emails and five-minute audio clips, and presents each story alongside an excerpt of Scripture that points readers back to a perspective of eternal hope in Christ in the midst of current events. TPO doesn’t claim to give a definitive Christian analysis of the news; it simply provides short, factual summaries of major events and weaves in reminders of God’s promises, which transcend the chaos of current events.
I was skeptical when I first heard TPO’s claim that it was nonpartisan. “Objectivity” is too often just a disguise for the partisanship and inflammatory content that dominates modern journalism. But TPO’s stories on topics from the war in Israel to immigration policy, have proven that the news outlet is capable of clearly separating facts from analysis.
The analysis it does provide sifts stories through a framework of eternal hope instead of curating them to confirm readers’ political biases and boost the outrage that feeds the modern media machine.
When Fox and CNN reported Christa Pike’s failed Sept. 30 execution in Tennessee, each quickly followed the initial report with news analysis stories interpreting the event through their respective political narratives. Fox fit the story into a narrative about justice being in jeopardy, while CNN presented the case through the lens of ethical concerns about the death penalty. Both outlets blended facts with their own interpretations.
TPO clearly separates fact and analysis. When the outlet covered the execution story in its Oct. 2 newsletter, the outlet simply summarized the main facts of the case in seven short sentences before quoting Job 12:10 as a reminder to take hope in Jesus as the Lord of life and death in the midst of a broken world, where things like botched executions happen.
Everyone interprets the world according to some narrative. What’s different about TPO is its humility to distinguish between the facts and their opinion, and their hopeful, rather than inflammatory, focus. TPO is uncompromisingly Christian, but it doesn’t conflate the facts of the stories it reports with the worldview it uses to make sense of them.
Thoughtful political analysis is a crucial part of journalism and public discourse. But too often outlets mix news and analysis together — interfering with the reader’s ability to make sense of the facts himself — and force them into a political binary. TPO’s factual reporting and uplifting analysis that transcends politics is a much-needed addition to the news world.
As traditional media sources arrange the facts of current events within their chosen political narrative, they incite their readers towards outrage and fear over circumstances that they likely have little control over. TPO calls its readers back to what they can control — their prayers and perspective — and to the power and love of the God who stands above all earthly circumstances.
Subscriber by subscriber, TPO is showing there’s a hunger in the market to stay informed without getting outraged. Although the outlet will particularly appeal to those who agree with TPO’s Christian perspective, its facts-first, humble approach to journalism will benefit anyone who subscribes.Mainstream news outlets would do well to take notice.
Daniel Johnson is a junior studying philosophy and theology.
