How It Works

The Platform

A Platform for Contextualizing the News

Unvarnished is a platform to find, read, and share context for the news. This context – all too often missing from breaking news – is critical to understanding and assessing fast-moving events. Is the leader trustworthy? Is the expert credible? Are there historical parallels that can help us evaluate current events? These are the kinds of questions that Unvarnished helps to answer.

Context about a particular topic is organized into “threads” of evidence that are clear and easy to read. We’re starting with quotations, but will be adding more evidence types as we continue to build the site.

For Everyone

Open to All

If you just want to read and share threads, Unvarnished is completely free and no account is needed.

And everyone who wants can author threads on Unvarnished. We know that experts can come from all walks of life, and we don’t apply any partisan filter – threads should stand on their strength of their evidence, not adherence to any preconceived ideology.

For Authors

Simple Thread Authoring

To author a thread, simply create a free account and you can get started immediately. Threads themselves only take a title, a brief description, and the supporting quotations (text, speaker, and source) to post. (At present, all quotations must be entered manually, but as we build the site we expect to create a database and also automate the process of capturing new quotations.) They will be posted to Unvarnished, ready to be read here or shared anywhere people are getting news.

Quality First

Validated Content

Unvarnished validates all quotes to confirm that they are genuine, accurate, and not presented in a misleading way. Threads are reviewed to ensure they provide a reasonable and accurate framing. As we build out the site, we will add to our review and moderation processes, including opportunities for community and expert input.

Although we are not partisan, we are strong advocates for quality, credible information. Most social media sites have simply declared a free-for-all: no lie is too blatant, no attack is too scurrilous. These rich companies try to justify their craven and greedy dereliction of duty as a noble attempt to build the “digital town square.” As a result, their town square is full of raving lunatics and ranting conspiracy theorists. Unvarnished goes the other way; we believe that a strong review process is not only compatible with a rapid news cycle but essential to any genuine trust and understanding of the news.