The majority of news brands have a suite of newsletters that includes a daily briefing and others around themes and topics — politics, sports, food, individual authors, the list goes on. Here, I wanted to highlight two examples of newsletters that are smartly audience-centric and engaging. 

BBC’s In History newsletter born from audience feedback

The BBC launched its popular In History newsletter in March 2024 (it came up during a stop on our study tour during INMA’s World Congress, and I later followed up with the BBC for more details). Published every Thursday, it draws on the BBC’s rich audio and video archive to revisit key historical events that still resonate today, said Danny Boyle, head of newsletters at BBC Studios.

“Readers told us they valued the BBC’s history content for being engaging, reliable, and trustworthy — and were looking for more,” Boyle said. “To serve that appetite, we created a weekly newsletter offering curated articles, podcasts, and videos tied to moments from that week in history. Each edition features a standout highlight: a never-before-seen BBC radio script, offering a rare glimpse into how major moments were originally broadcast.”

Now, 15 months in, feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, Boyle said. Readers have described the newsletter as “a little slice of solace,” “a great idea and well executed,” and “excellent information from the past putting the present in perspective,” he said.

In History’s subscriber list has steadily grown at around 5% month-over-month. It has one of the most engaged audiences among the BBC’s newsletters, with open and click-through rates consistently high, even as the subscriber base grows. 

Cross-promotion in other BBC newsletters, along with placements on the BBC.com homepage and within history articles, have been effective in attracting new readers, Boyle said. 

Reader interaction has become central to the newsletter, Boyle said, noting the In History audience has arguably the strongest sense of community among the BBC’s newsletters. 

“After each edition, we receive a large number of e-mails, often with readers sharing personal memories related to the events we cover,” Boyle said. “As the audience has grown, so too has the volume of reader memories. To help manage this, we introduced an automated reply earlier this year that thanks readers for their message and requests their name, age, and location (as each featured memory includes these details). While we only spotlight one memory per edition, we still aim to respond to every message — especially those that are particularly moving.”

Major global moments, like the JFK assassination or Winston Churchill’s funeral, tend to perform particularly well and generate strong personal responses, as do cultural anniversaries such as The Wizard of Oz, Boyle said.

“But readers are particularly drawn to 20th-century stories, remarking that the newsletter offers ‘a fresh perspective on a moment I remember,’” he said.

The BBC is continuing to explore new ways to grow the newsletter and further expand its broader history coverage, Boyle said.

“We regularly share insights and audience feedback with our BBC.com colleagues, who also publish In History articles each week. These learnings influence both topic selection and editorial approach.”

The Atlantic cuts through the noise with One Story to Read Today

The Atlantic, which has many beautifully curated newsletters, launched One Story to Read Today in November 2021. It’s quickly grown to one of its most successful newsletters, said Bhumika Tharoor, managing editor at The Atlantic who oversees audience, newsletters, and programming. 

“The simplicity eases readers in: here’s One Story To Read,” she said. “The newsletter team identifies one grippy story of the day and deliberates over what would make the best subject line. Later, we analyse what worked.”

List growth and open rates have been consistently strong since launch. The Atlantic closely monitors list size, open rate, click-through rate, and conversions. 

“We definitely consider this an acquisition play: It’s incredibly effective at bringing our journalism to new readers and has the highest conversion rate of newsletters in our portfolio,” Tharoor said.

If you’d like to subscribe to my bi-weekly newsletter, INMA members can do so here.

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