In an era of plentiful polarized news outlets, three LT students have taken it upon themselves to provide a beacon of unbiased information and combat political polarization through their platform, “United Student Media.” Founded by Ben Dreves-Hunt ‘24 and Angus Allan ‘24, the organization aims to teach students to form their own opinions, and therefore respect other people’s perspectives more, Dreves-Hunt said. 

This student-run website allows writers the freedom to pick their own topics. However, there are specific criteria in place. 

“Every writer gets to pick their own topic–we don’t force anyone to write about something they don’t want to,” Dreves-Hunt said. “The requirements are that it has to be politically based, and unbiased. This can include topics like foreign affairs, economic, and public welfare issues.” Dreves-Hunt serves in a managerial role for the website, and also coordinates with overseas members in Italy, Germany and Kazakhstan. United Student Media offers a diverse array of articles, exploring foreign topics such as a one-day civil war in Russia or conflicts in the Caucasus. The diverse approach has led to the creation of series like “Ben’s Ballot Breakdown,” a variety of articles that cover timely issues like climate change and border security in hopes to inform new and returning voters. The organization’s ultimate goal is far greater than simply reporting the news. 

“Our goal, not only as student journalists but as an organization, is to counter the widespread political polarization that comes with most political news sources today,” Dreves-Hunt said. 

The news is also quick and easy to read, which keeps readers engaged with the website, said Allan. The challenge lies in adding complexity to those easy-to-read stories, and making them informative but still digestible. United Student Media remains impartial by repeatedly making the difficult decision not to report on a certain topic. Stories related to timely domestic topics like the 2024 Presidential Election and foreign topics like the Russian invasion of Ukraine are the most popular amongst the website’s readers right now. 

“The news we write about, especially international developments, can be very controversial,” Allan said. “A lot of times we choose not to write an article because it would be far too complicated to prevent bias.” 

The website can be found at unitedstudentmedia.com and the organization is constantly looking for students to report on topics of their own personal interest.