Episode 560 All about informed with and the News with Kira Shishkin

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Show Summary

The SDM Show podcast hosted by Rob Cairns, featuring guest Kira Shishkin who discusses his product called informed. The conversation focuses on the challenges of consuming news in the current media landscape, which they describe as being overloaded with content, opinions, sensationalism, and advertising. Kira explains that Informed aims to disrupt this by providing minimalistic, factual news based on original reporting and primary sources. The service delivers a concise, text-based executive briefing to subscribers for a monthly fee, offering a way to stay informed without being influenced and filtering out the noise and bias prevalent in traditional news media.

Show Notes

Key Discussion Points:

  • The Problem with Modern News (0:55): Kira describes the current news industry as “extremely overloaded” and “bloated with content.” The discussion highlights the frustration with extraneous materials, advertisements, pop-ups, and website navigation that detract from the core news content.
  • Fact vs. Opinion (4:15): Rob and Kira emphasize the critical need for factual reporting. Rob shares his four-point checklist for vetting news articles: source, author, slant, and expert validation. The conversation touches on how much of today’s “news” is actually opinion, eroding public trust.
  • The Erosion of Trust (10:15): The dialogue shifts to the decline of trust in traditional news anchors and outlets. The era of trusted figures like Walter Cronkite has been replaced by a landscape where audiences are skeptical of the information presented, largely due to the prevalence of opinion and perceived bias.
  • Reporters vs. Journalists (18:45): An important distinction is made between reporters, who gather facts on the ground, and journalists, who often interpret and add opinion to those facts. Kira explains that “Informed” focuses on the work of reporters and primary sources to deliver untainted information.
  • Disrupting the News Industry (13:40): Kira argues that the news industry is “beyond repair” and needs disruption, not reform. She positions “Informed” as a “concierge layer” that shields consumers from the “toxic” news environment, much like Uber and Airbnb disrupted their respective industries.
  • The “Informed” Curation Process (24:10): Kira details the sophisticated process “Informed” uses to curate news.
    • Technology: A proprietary software scans thousands of articles, prioritizing original reporting and primary sources (e.g., official government announcements, court filings). It avoids reposters and outlets with clear biases.
    • Significance over Sensationalism: Stories are selected based on their impact on the human condition—how they will tangibly affect people’s lives, rights, and freedoms.
    • Human Touch: A professional editorial team reviews all content to ensure it is free of bias, tone, and systematic errors, taking full responsibility for the final output.
  • The “Informed” Service (37:10):
    • Delivery: A concise executive briefing is sent via SMS text message each morning.
    • Goal: To get you informed, not influenced, in 30 seconds.
    • Value: It saves users time and money by eliminating the need for multiple, expensive news subscriptions and cutting through paywalls.
  • Subscription Fatigue and Pricing (40:30): In an age of endless subscriptions, “Informed” aims to be the last news subscription you’ll ever need. After a free trial, the service costs $9 per month.

About Informed:

Informed is a news concierge service for leaders in the age of information overload. It provides a minimal, concise, and factual daily news briefing via SMS to keep you informed without the influence of bias, opinion, or advertisements.

How to Connect:

  • Get a free trial of Informed: Text the word “hey” to 844-6-INFO-ME (844-646-3663).

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