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Newsletters have an even longer history than newspapers, and e-mail is decades older than the web. Despite this long pedigree, email newsletters have a very lively moment – and here at The New York Times we strive to bring even more depth, ambition, and size to our range.
This summer, it will be 20 years since The Times published their first newsletters. We started in 2001 with technology, books and finance, among other things. Some of these newsletters still thrive in different versions as part of a portfolio that reaches approximately 15 million people each week – a number that has grown over the past two years. Flagships such as The Morning and DealBook serve as a target for readers and as an important gateway and guide to our journalism, while offering original reporting and analysis.
As the editor-in-chief of the Times newsletter, I’ve been thinking with my colleagues about what’s next. How can we break new ground in the inbox and cover the topics that are most important to our readers in a differentiated manner?
Newsletters are already an integral part of our subscriber experience: almost half of our subscribers use a newsletter every week. This week we’re pulling the curtain back on a new breed of Times journalism: more than 15 newsletters available only to our subscribers. The aim is to further develop the inbox as a goal for our journalism and to create added value for a Times subscription.
The first batch focuses on topics that inspire our readers, is filled by journalists with in-depth specialist knowledge and offers exciting, diverse new voices. It includes newsroom favorites Well, On Tech, At Home and Away, On Soccer, and Watching, as well as columnists like Paul Krugman and Jamelle Bouie.
It also includes a new set of newsletters in Opinion (which, aside from our news operations, remains a completely separate, independent entity):
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John McWhorter, a Columbia University linguist, will examine how race and language shape our politics and culture.
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Kara Swisher, The moderator of the podcast “Sway” will open her notebook to follow the changing power dynamics in technology and media.
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Tressie McMillan Cottom, Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will offer a sociological perspective on the culture, politics and economy of our everyday lives.
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Tish Harrison Warren, an Anglican priest, reflecting on questions of faith in private life and in public discourse.
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Peter Coy, an experienced business journalist, will unpack the biggest headlines with his decades of expertise.
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Jay Caspian Kang, a wide-ranging cultural critic and contributor to the New York Times Magazine, will tackle sensitive political, cultural and economic issues.
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Jane Coaston, Hosting the podcast, The Argument, provides context and analysis on the biggest debates in sport, politics and history.
All of these subscriber-only newsletters represent a unique collection of talent and expertise in opinion and the newsroom, supported by editors, designers, developers, product managers and other specialists.
We have spent most of the last year working towards this launch and more new and revamped newsletters – including a new version of On Politics and a revamped Smarter Living focused on getting back to work – will be released in the future months will belong to this first batch.
Here you can subscribe to the Times newsletter.
