My 17-year-old son doesn’t understand how people can possibly spend large portions of their day reading and answering email.
As far as I can tell, he deals with the issue by magisterially ignoring all email sent to him.
For the rest of us, the inbox is a place where we seem to spend a lot of time. I have systems to make email easier, and I regularly cull emails that I don’t ever read, or that I don’t need.
And yet, email can be a source of good reading, and of inspiration and knowledge.
I recently wrote a post about staying abreast of the latest trends in journalism. One of the steps I recommended was to subscribe to email newsletters – they bring the latest news to you, instead of you spending time seeking out what you need to know. I generally subscribe to any newsletter that looks interesting. I then read it and decide whether it stays or goes. Over time, my interests might change, and then my newsletter subscriptions change too.
Here, then, is a list of the newsletters that I actually read at the moment and find valuable, both as a journalist and a private individual.
Naked Data
Naked Data comes out every Friday and is co-written by Jason Norwood-Young and Adam Oxford. It covers the global South and tends towards data and coding, but it always has links to stories and projects that are interesting or ground-breaking, or both. For journalists of all kinds, it is a weekly prod in the direction of new trends and a resource specifically for people working in data visualisation. Also – it’s funny.
One man and his blog
Adam Tinworth writes a range of newsletters, and I subscribe to all of them (except the one about the ospreys, though I have been tempted). He offers a wide take on journalism trends, social media, newsletters and business models for the journalism profession. Articles he links to are preceded by his own take on the issue, which is always sensible and thought-provoking. I’ve given up many of the journalism newsletters that I used to subscribe to in favour of Tinworth’s missives.
Bloomberg City Lab
Not journalism related. A look at issues of urban planning, climate change and related matters. There’s always something worth reading – even though I hit the Bloomberg article limit quite early in any given month.
The Ruffian
I think I was pointed to the Ruffian by Adam Tinworth. These newsletters are a collection of links to interesting things Ian Leslie found on the Internet, or to his own writing – accompanied by thoughtful summaries. I have never been disappointed by following a link from one of his newsletters, and use them in my own social media sharing.
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I write a post every week, some about my professional life and work, and some about broader issues. You can get either of those, or both, in your email, by subscribing here.