To state the obvious: There is a lot of political media today.
And here’s something else that is obvious: It’s all pretty much the same.
Too much of today’s media isn’t good enough. Too much of it isn’t good at all.
It isn’t what we want or what we need.
The current platforms and content are falling short in serving our democracy, falling short to an embarrassing degree.
They are neglecting to serve us as consumers of news.
They are also failing content creators, politicians, activists, and advocacy groups, most of whom think the current political media options are weak, repetitive, misleading, superficial, skewed, one-sided, and boring.
Over the past few years, I’ve thought a lot about the question of what is missing in media and what can be done to make it whole.
And the answer, I believe, is exciting—a new platform I am starting with a group of determined and visionary colleagues.
It’s called 2WAY.
I say, with optimism and humility, that 2WAY could change our national political conversation for the better.
At least a little. Maybe even a lot!
2WAY is a video-first, creator-first, consumer-first, citizen-first platform you will be able to access for free through the 2WAY app, on a web browser, or via the 2WAY social media accounts.
2WAY combines 21st century tech with old-fashioned conversation and contact in a manner that is long overdue. On 2WAY, you can watch live content from the most powerful voices in politics while interacting with them in real-time via in-stream chat, polls, quizzes, and interactive video debate, enabling you to be “in the room,” to be part of the conversation, and to be a part of helping to make change.
2WAY is built around live events. Some will be produced in-house, with well-chosen personalities and hosts, and some will be captured organically out in the real world, such as a campaign rally, presidential address, or unpredicted incident. Some will be livestreamed directly into the 2WAY app by our community of contributors.
Some of our episodes will be scheduled in advance and some will pop up lightning-fast in reaction to breaking news (a Supreme Court vacancy, for example, or a dramatic change in the presidential race).
You will be invited to watch live for no charge, and be able to participate virtually face-to-face, real-time, with leading creators and political figures. You also will have access to all of our episodes on-demand after they conclude.
How? Seriously? Doesn’t this sound amazing?
Why did we start 2WAY?
When we looked at the problems with contemporary media, we determined that most of today’s content and political conversations are broken in a pair of quite fundamental ways.
First, current political conversation is almost all one-way communication. The creators, the politicians, the advocates, just talk at the citizens, rather than with them. There is no actual conversation. This means media personalities and key actors are almost exclusively talking rather than listening. This helps almost no one, advances nothing, and is dull as dirt.
Occasionally, a media organization or a political campaign will open up and allow for a brief two-way communication. But these flashes of connection are one-off moments, short, short-lived, and incompatible with the status quo’s core missions and methods of operating.
Second, real debates almost never occur, because most existing platforms have created hermetic silos of Blue and Red.
In other words, what we mostly have is ONE-WAY communication that represents just ONE point of view.
Can you think of a current platform that brings together, say, a conservative and a liberal talking in a civilized, collegial manner about how to meet the nation’s shared economic challenges, in a layered conversation that includes citizen input?
You can’t.
We would be excited to have Matt Gaetz on 2WAY. And to have AOC on. And we would be really excited to have both of them on 2WAY together. And super excited to have them on together, along with a group of citizens.
And — get this — we’d also be thrilled to host leaders and thinkers with plain old good ideas and no focus on controversial baggage or troll armies or suspect agendas drifting along in their wake like a toxic comet trail.
2WAY is a new way.
Our live video-first platform will bring many voices under one roof. Citizens will be connected to the public leaders and influencers they currently can only typically see on TV or follow on social media, but who on 2WAY will be exchanging ideas and being exposed to new perspectives. Sometimes participants will find common ground, or, at least, discover new shades to familiar or challenging concepts.
And connecting on video is a far different mode than one-way social media, or books, or cable news, or essays.
Video rooms, in the modern era, are as direct as a conference room, but cozy; as intimate as a friend’s parlor, but in your own slippers. As I have learned from the Concierge Coverage video meetings for Wide World of News, there’s a magic alchemy that comes when you convene the right group of diverse folks in a welcoming forum, with a format that encourages listening, learning, mutual respect, shared inspiration, and what I call The Presumption of Grace.
You will soon be able to access all of the content through the 2WAY app from the Apple store and, before too long, for web and Android.
The app experience will be the richest way to be a part of the 2WAY community, allowing you to interact by voice, text, and other means with each other and with 2WAY’s guests.
You also will be able to access much of our content on social media.
I will be sending more information soon on how to access all of those platforms.
Our standard content – what we call “episodes” – are starting to roll out. You will learn about upcoming episodes for now via Wide World of News, but, again, soon through our social media channels and the 2WAY app.
At the beginning, as with all good start-ups, we will ramp up at a mellow pace, so you can expect roughly one or two events a day. Once we get going, there will be more daily programming, with a bigger array of contributors, a wider variety of topics, and increasing citizen participation, including daily content by certified creators who come from all over the place – including readers of Wide World of News.
By happenstance and design, we are launching in the month that kicks off voting in the 2024 presidential contest, so many of our early episodes will be about politics somewhat traditionally defined – elections, polls, campaigning. For instance, we will be live with you in 2WAY style the night of the Iowa caucuses.
And we will also be covering the battles in Washington over the budget, immigration, Ukraine and Israel aid, impeachment, health care, and more.
But 2WAY will always define “politics” more broadly than just those kinds of topics, with episodes about subjects such as financial literacy, early childhood education, culture, and more.
Always, these will be the kind of discussions I have been fortunate enough to hear and be part of over the course of my career.
The kind of discussions that are interesting, witty, provocative, important.
Conversations, as we say at 2WAY, like no other.
When there is a big event, a big topic, a big new piece of content – a big conversation to have – our goal is to bring it to you with speed, style, and sense. We want you to find your news, information, and community home with us at 2WAY.
We are not a one-sided, three-minute cable news segment with more heat than light.
We are not the occasional online chat with a newspaper reporter.
We are not a string of unanswered replies or comments on X or Instagram.
2WAY is something so simple, and so crucial, it is sort of amazing it doesn’t already exist.
Long conversations that include everyone. Conversations that are both entertaining and fulfilling.
We hope to earn your trust quickly, to show you that we know how to pick the right topics, curate the right creators, politicians, and players, not waste your time, and prove that our format and ethos -- 2WAY conversations, with all voices under one electronic roof -- are different from what is on offer elsewhere.
My experience building the Wide World of News Concierge Coverage community -- and based on the discussions I and my 2WAY colleagues have had with a range of people -- have convinced me that 2WAY is needed right now, for creators, for politicians, for players, and for consumers and citizens.
Political conversations that are bipartisan or even nonpartisan, with a diverse group of citizens, broken out of their Blue-Red tribes, who come from across the political spectrum, matched up and interacting with content creators and political figures with equal diversity.
A platform with all voices under one roof, on both sides of the microphone, with user engagement and voting, is going to produce greater understanding for sure. We also aspire, with no embarrassment or faux idealism, to increase the planet’s total volume of peace, love, and understanding. And also add a little fun and humor and honesty and relief to our news. The true essentials of life.
Conversations like no other.
Our state-of-the-art technology enabling 2WAY comes from an interactive livestreaming platform called CLASH TV, which has built digital communities around youth basketball and culture. You should check out that app too.
As we start out this month, we will experiment with different creators, contributors, and combinations, as well as start testing subscriptions.
We are eager to get your input, to hear what kind of episodes you like and want to see more of.
No matter what episodes we bring you, we will always remain true to our core principles: inviting you into the room for 2WAY conversations that allow all voices to be heard together, interactively, intelligently, honestly, and engagingly.
2WAY communication is not an add-on for us, nor a one-off, nor a sidebar to some existing product or content slate.
2WAY is the whole point.
We think you will find that 2WAY is more than twice as good as one way. Exponentially better.
And we look forward to having you be a part of it.
I hope you will all be consumers of 2WAY, participants in the conversation. But I also hope many of you will become content contributors, partners, and/or investors.
Tomorrow, Friday, January 12, at 3pm ET, I invite you to join me by Zoom here to learn more about 2WAY and how you can be a part of it. No RSVP is required.
All my best,
Mark
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Friday, 3pm ET: Join me for a conversation about 2WAY, why we started it, how it will work, and how you can be a part of the discussion. ZOOM LINK
Sunday, 6pm ET: A session on the final Iowa Poll looking at the caucuses, with Ann Selzer (who conducts the poll), Celinda Lake, and more. ZOOM LINK COMING SOON
Monday: Special programming into the evening with the latest from Iowa and what it means. DETAILS AND ZOOM LINK COMING SOON