Speaking Moylanguage #8: The Newsletter Edition
Messaging, reflections on this project, newsletter recommendations, newsletters trends in news media, audience development, advice for starting a newsletter
Thank you for subscribing and welcome to the eighth edition of Speaking Moylanguage! This edition is a thematic (and slightly meta-) edition on newsletters.
I am fortunate enough to have a stellar contributor this month - journalist and creator behind the highly successful newsletter “Belgium in Brief”, Jules Johnston. He joins to share some thoughts on messaging and clarity in a noisy information environment!
A quick overview for the uninitiated:
The newsletter is divided into three sections - stories, ideas and skills.
The content is mostly shared in Google Doc format, with comments enabled.
Please leave comments, share more content, elaborate and ask questions - I do reply, read and appreciate them!
If you liked this edition, why not subscribe?
1. Stories
The Message
Jules Johnston is a consulting editor and journalist at the Brussels Times and writer of the successful newsletter Belgium in Brief. He has years of experience as a journalist, but has also worked on the other side of the fence for NGOs, international institutions and the private sector. Drawing on this wealth of knowledge, and with his direct and energetic style, he shares a few reflections on how to hold his attention as a journalist...
Thinking behind Speaking Moylanguage
The first edition of Speaking Moylanguage went out on Friday the 4th of December 2020. Since then, I’ve prepared 8 editions, had over 1300 people subscribe, learned a huge amount and had an awful lot of fun. Starting a newsletter has been something I’ve meant to do for a while - so here’s a peek under the hood!
2. Ideas
Newsletter Recommendations
Courtesy of my friends, followers and personal mailbox, I have prepared a selection of newsletter recommendations on a range of different topics - from environmentalism to local issues to trade to international relations! Why not have a scan and sign up to one or two?
Newsletters in the News Media
Every year the Reuters Institute publishes a report tracking trends in digital news consumption. This year the #DNR2021 surveyed over 92 000 consumers in 46 markets. Here I have picked through the report to find out how news organisations are using newsletters in different cultural contexts.
3. Skills
Audience Development and Newsletters
Audience development involves the identification, engagement and retention of a group of people through content marketing, community management and a range of other activities. Here I share a few thoughts on these activities and how they might relate to newsletters - a particularly intimate medium.
10 pieces of advice for someone starting a newsletter
Some advice and points of reflection for anyone considering starting a newsletter - from reflecting on what it is you want to achieve (and whether a newsletter is the right way to do it), to practical things like email design and optimising for mobile!
Some recommendations
Anamaria Dutceac Segesten shares this EUvsDisinfo post on Aristotle: Disinformation, Truth and Practical Wisdom.
Wolfgang Blau wrote this piece on lessons from COVID for reporting on the climate crisis.
Sphera’s podcast contest - you could win a prize of up to €8,300 to produce your own podcast series!
Job posting: Senior Communication Officer at the Stockholm Environment Institute.
Job posting: Specialist in Media Relations and Open Sources at Europol.
Job posting: Applications for paid traineeships in the European Commission are now open.