Pretty weird that at no point during the "are newsletter Good or Bad" media fight happening on this app over the last few days has anyone point out what a newsletter in 2020 actually is:

An editorial product that reaches readers without algorithmic interference.

You can wring your hands and fret over all these writers and journalists making newsletters and wonder if This Is The Future Of Content or whatever, but one thing is undeniable.

Readers are willing to pay for content that isn't delivered via a platform's proprietary algorithm.

The nature of email has shifted a lot since the internet first started! And it's shifting again. It's a mobile friendly feed that is simple to use that almost everyone already has set up. It makes complete sense to me that people are turning their inboxes into an RSS reader.

It also is not surprising that people high up in digital media companies are becoming a little uncomfortable about the idea that writers are successfully experimenting with online publishing strategies that don't require bloated ad tech or leaching off Google or Facebook traffic

I think newsletters are a natural and necessary corrective to a maximalist and toxic decade of digital publishing where outlets had to achieve completely unhealthy levels of scale.

Do I think newsletters will change publishing? No. Do I think they're cool and fun. Yes.