Tangle Media was founded in 2019 by executive editor Isaac Saul, providing political news across the spectrum to allow readers “to look at US-focused politics through multiple lenses”, Saul told Press Gazette.
“We believe that audiences are divided into really tight little sectors right now,” Saul said. “Not a lot of people are being exposed to ideas and arguments that they might not like.”
This content, alongside a personal relationship built with readers, helped Tangle reach $4.15m in annual revenue, including $500,000 sourced from ads, in 2025, with 85% of its revenue stream sourced from paid subscriptions and 15% from ads.
This is an “inverted typical model”, whereby “most news organisations will give you maybe 10 or 20% of their content for free”, said Saul.
“I really believe that most of the quality journalism and news content that exists right now is behind a paywall, and I want people to be able to access really quality stuff for free,” he added.
For $199, readers also get a first look at new products and access to the podcast ad free. The premium podcast costs $59 alone.
Tangle’s model is “membership-first”, Saul said. “I want to be accountable to our audience and our readers, and not have to worry about which way the winds are blowing in the economy or with advertisers.”
A key driver of Tangle’s 16% conversion rate is its upsell emails with an informal tone, said Saul.
“We’re really good at [converting] because we tell people a really personal story about what we’re going to do with the money and why we need it,” he added. “We are able to maintain that conversion rate by – [either] once a month, once a quarter – reaching out to our audience and asking them to support our work.”
These upsell emails lean into a more informal with subject lines such as “yes, I’m asking for your money”.
Source: Press Gazette
