MSM bias reflects primarily in opinions and reporting decisions. Most important events are reported by MSM in an unbiased fashion, as are (often) investigative reports. Vox does almost no original reporting and is just in the business of mixing up other news reports and opinionizing. In this, they are highly biased and to a large extent, they cherry pick news and views that conform with extreme liberal dogmas.

A good counterpoint to Vox is Real Clear Politics. Their front page features an equal number of direct links to opinion and news from both sides of the political spectrum. They also don't corrupt these links with rambling infantilzing '*splaining'.

This assessment feels accurate. Just tried to think of any digital-first journalism outlet in the U.S. that is focused on doing independent reporting rather than "telling people how to feel."

Came up empty. That feels true on both the conservative and liberal sides too. Opinion isn't intrinsically bad, but it makes me nervous that the CPM ad-based revenue model definitely incentivizes this type of 'newsroom.'

Have you looked into ProPublica or The Marshall Project? They're non-profits who focus on investigative reporting. ProPublica is general news but The Marshall Project focuses exclusively on the US's criminal justice system.