We often ask our readers what other newsletters they read and why. What we’ve learned is that different newsletters appeal to people for different reasons. Some people choose a newsletter due to a specific topic focus (e.g. Tech or Business), while others like a specific format or value (factual news, summarized news), and yet others enjoy a particular writing style (funny, sarcastic). So what’s the best newsletter for you?
One requirement that nearly every user mentions is how quickly the email conveys information.
With that in mind we did a quick scan of some popular newsletters and see how they compare on length. Results averaging newsletter from the first week of December below.
| Newsletter length | Short | Medium | Long |
| Examples | Abridge News, News Bling, The New Paper | The Factual, The Skimm | Daily Pnut, Morning Brew, The Flip Side, The Hustle |
| Time to read | 2-4 min | 4-6 min | 6-8 min |
| Word count | 500-1000 | 1000-1500 | 1500-2000 |
| Apparent Objective | Headlines plus quick takes | Brief analysis beyond the headlines | Deep dive by topic area |
* Note: above includes only news aggregators. Newsletters from specific news organizations like Axios, NY Times, or individual writers like Dave Pell are excluded.
Let’s take a closer look at each of these.
General News – short form
Best for covering the headlines and a quick sound bite beyond that. No mention of specific sources, political bias etc.
News Bling
One major headline from each news section: World, US, Business, Politics, Tech, Entertainment – each presented with a couple of bullets. Writing style is brief and to the point.
The New Paper
Similar to News Bling but smaller font and not in bullets. Writing style is brief and to the point.
General news with political focus
Each of these newsletters works on the assumption that news outlets are biased and you need to get different perspectives to get the whole story. Tends to favor US news.
Abridge News
A short newsletter that digs into one political topic of the day with quick sound bites from across the political spectrum.
The Factual
Selects the five most widely reported news topics and provides multiple perspectives on each.
Key benefits are an assessment of credibility for each article, political lean information on the source, and a wide range of publications sourced. Bullet summaries are extracted from articles to minimize editorial bias. The “Under-Reported” section at the bottom surfaces hard-to-find articles that are worth reading. (Ok, slight bias here 🙂
The Flip Side
Goes deep into a single politically charged topic with multiple perspectives across the political spectrum. Pulls out key quotes from these perspectives and presents in a simple Left/Right format.
General news with editorial overlay
These cover select headlines with a more editorial commentary, often appealing to a specific demographic.
The Skimm
Editorial commentary on a few headlines. Style is light-hearted and conversational. Said to be more popular with younger women.
Daily Pnut
World news focus with intelligent commentary. Text heavy.
Morning Brew
Business and finance focused newsletter. Starts with market indices and analyzes three big topics. Editorial style is edgy and intelligent.
The Hustle
Tech and business focus with commentary on a couple of big topics. Style is sometimes edgy and witty. Said to be more popular with younger men.
As you can see there are many newsletter options with different value propositions. Hope this helps you find the one that’s right for you. If there are any good newsletters that are missing from the list above please leave a comment and we’ll update the post. Thanks!
