About

Understated was launched in October 2024 by me, Sarah Alvarez. I'm a Detroit-based reporter and editor and the founder of Outlier Media.

This is just a simple blog cataloging research I'm doing, conversations I'm having, and ideas that feel exciting and relevant to finding some different news formats and frameworks that might work better than what we use and rely on now.

Why is it called understated?

There are a lot of assumptions made by news producers. The number of these assumptions and the significance of them completely shocked me when I started working in news.

The assumption is that editors will be able to do a good job deciding what the news should cover using only their intuition, for example. Newsrooms don't really understand how information leads to impact, it's just assumed that it can and that sometimes it will. Reporters and editors agonize about how to craft a story that will create empathy in the reader, without understanding if that's necessary. We assume that news will always be central to helping people understand and navigate the world. The truth is, the news is a marginal player in the personal information landscapes of most people.

All of these understated assumptions have led to the news we have. If we want to create the news and information systems we want and need, we need to dig into these assumptions and replace them with better ideas.

What happens if I sign up?

You'll get access to the full archive of all posts and everything that's still to come. A new post will be delivered to your inbox on Mondays.

A few things you should know

Everyone needs an editor, and I don't have one on this project apart from my AI assisted Language Tool. Expect copy errors because I'm horrible at finding them. I love an Oxford comma, but my use of them is inconsistent. When I find copy errors later, I'll go back and fix them. If you want to tell me about them, that's fine too, but don't feel compelled. I don't expect factual errors, but mistakes happen. If you see one of these, please do tell me. I'll address it and add correction language.

Learning and working in public means an evolution in ideas is expected. I'll be learning things that other people already know, and maybe entering conversations that have been going on for years. I won't always know when an idea is new, or just new to me. If you have context or information that can help me, I'd love to know.

How do I get in touch?

I'm on a socials break and hope to keep my peace, so email is best. Just reach out to sarah@understated.blog and I'll get back to you.