When people find out that I have a journalism background, some like to inform me that they don’t like watching or reading the news. They think the everyday news is depressing or ultra-politicized, or they don’t like the clickbait stories. If this is also your sentiment, or even if you are just a news junkie like me, you’ll like what I’m about to share. It gives you the news you need to know for the day, straight to your inbox. It’s called theSkimm.
theSkimm is a daily email newsletter that shows up in your email on weekday mornings. The content of the newsletter varies from international news and entertainment to sports and technology, but it does have heavy political coverage. The tone of the newsletter is also conversational, which I appreciate — It’s like you’re getting your news from a very well-informed (and occasionally snarky) friend. Each item is about 150 words or less, so you don’t have to read full-length stories if that’s not your thing. If you really want to know more, there is usually at least one link to an exterior source. The newsletter’s writers are just skimming what you really need to know from the endless sea of news content, hence its name.
My friend Kelly told me about theSkimm, and I’ve been subscribing to the newsletter for about a month now. I’m impressed with how the writers never seem to miss an important item, and admire how they can distill complicated stories in 100 words. In particular, I’ve really liked how the newsletter has covered the 2016 elections, and it’s a great place to get general information about the candidates and the election calendar.
I like reading theSkimm while I’m getting ready for work in the morning, so I can catch up with the east coast and international news cycles. While I love using both Twitter and Feedly to get articles from multiple publications in one place, it’s really easy for me to lose track of my timeline or let the articles digitally pile up. If I’m busy during the week and know that I’m going to be doing most of my in-depth reading at the end of the week or on the weekend, I know that I’m going to at least know the basics of what happened in the news via theSkimm. Staying informed about what’s happening in the world around me is important to me, and theSkimm has my back. For that, this newsletter gets a big gold star.
Do you have any email newsletters or publications you get your news from? Let’s talk about it in the comments.
Zoë Lance. 