Topic Selection

Each week we deliver one thoughtful, research-based article to our readers. Each article is posed as a question and encourages readers to form their own opinions. But how do we select each topic? Learn more below.

Filter.

WHY WE NEED A FILTER for the current news cycle.

Everyday we receive enough information to fill 174 newspapers. From 1980 to 2009 we've experienced a more than 300% increase in the amount of information we consume.  That's overwhelming. This increase in information is associated with the technological advancements we've experienced in the last 30 years. But is more information better? According to a 2018 survey, seven-in-ten Americans feel worn out by the amount of news there is today. At The Thread, we help our readers filter for what matters.

Focus.

OUR GOAL IS TO FOCUS ON POLICY, NOT POLITICS.

The current media cycle spends so much time stuck in the politics of the moment that we miss out on the larger policies and trends that are impacting our lives. These policies require real research and analysis. This is the gap we want to address by delivering one thoughtful, well-researched story each week to help you truly understand the key issues that we are facing today. We select weekly topics based on a standard criteria to filter out the noise and focus on the stories that matter most.

Criteria.

WE’VE CREATED STANDARD CRITERIA TO SELECT EACH TOPIC QUESTION.

We want to ensure that every topic is relevant, verifiable, actionable, and clarifying. To do this, we’ve established criteria to rank every topic before publishing.

See an example of our topic scoring criteria here.

A link topic selection criteria can be found in the “Behind the Story” section of each article.