Newsletter Nation

299 new newsletters are about to launch (and most of them won't survive past issue three)

Dear Media Friends (and random internet strangers),

The Washington Post cut a third of its staff yesterday. And while news of slashed newsrooms keeps pummeling us, it’s really hard to reconcile the idea that 300+ journalists no longer have steady work.

the brief:

In a world filled with Substacks, Kits, Beehiivs and Ghosts, I think it’s safe to predict that about 299 of the former WaPo staffers are about to launch newsletters.

Here’s why that could be a problem for all of us (including them).

the bloodbath

To be clear about the cuts at WaPo, they didn’t trim staff, they gutted it. Gone is the entire sports desk. The books section. The Middle East bureau. Their Ukraine correspondent was quite literally in a war zone when she got the email. The Cairo bureau chief announced her layoff on X.

And it’s not just the Post. The past few years have been filled with incredible amounts of slash and burn at media outlets.

You know where those journalists are going to go next? To your inbox. But not in the way you were once used to in a pitch and respond do-si-do.

Your inbox should be afraid. Very afraid.

the flood

I’m willing to wager that nearly every laid-off journalist with a following is going to launch a Substack or Beehiiv by March. Some of them will be extraordinary. I mean some of these people covered wars, broke national stories, or thumbed their noses at power-brokers. They deserve audiences.

But here’s what the platforms won’t tell them: the newsletter market is already drowning. And not necessarily in talent. In sameness. And yes, I realize the supreme irony of sharing these facts in one of my newsletters!

Sadly, what was once the freshest form of communication has become something of a template nation. No matter the topic, there’s a sameness that we can’t quite blame exclusively on overzealous AI. It’s people thinking that a newsletter will automatically allow them to reclaim their audience while raking in the cash. You know, like in those: I had 3 followers and a week later had 42,311 paid subscribers! posts that are the Substack version of #blessed. It isn’t and was never true, but one imagines it’s still tempting for newbies to believe it possible.

I’ll admit that I have my more lazy days when the “this is a reader-supported publication” sneaks in before I can delete it. But running a viable newsletter is an active commitment.

Legacy media journalists know how to research, interview, and report. They know how to write. What they don’t necessarily know is how to build a newsletter that earns a spot in someone’s already-overflowing inbox. Because that’s a different skill set—part editorial, part branding, part business-building, and a whole lot of charm and patience paired with zero expectations.

what this means for you

If you’re in PR and comms, two things are happening at once.

First off, a third of your media contacts at the Post just vanished. The editors you pitched, the reporters who covered your clients, the desks you relied on are gone like PSL in November. But instead of deleting those contacts from your address book, find ways to repair and rebuild those relationships. Don’t pitch. Don’t pressure.

Second, you’re going to get pitched by a lot of nascent newsletters by big enough names (or egos) looking for brand partnerships, sponsored content, affiliate deals and your client dollars. Most of them won’t have the ideas or engagement to justify your client’s spend. The majority never will. In the newsletterverse popularity doesn’t mean the same thing that a zillion followers on TikTok or Insta do. A newsletter with x number of loyal subscribers and a sexy open rate means a lot more than one that shares inflated subscriber numbers but can’t brainstorm marketing angles.

The good news is that you can figure it out along with them.

As for me, I build my brand the same way I’ve built my reputation. Transparency, reliability and consistency. It isn’t the sexiest formula, but it’s the one that works for me. And above all? Relationships and friendships, which mean the most of all.

the takeaway

The barrier to launching a newsletter dropped to zero. The barrier to building one worth reading didn't.

So, what are you seeing out there?

See you in your inbox -

Rachel

Want to work with me on newsletter coaching or brainstorming? Drop me a line or visit vineyard.agency to find out a tiny bit more about what else I do.