With using Twitter becoming increasingly like smoking — a habit you can’t quit but know you should — there’s a chance that a better RSS reader will finally, finally take hold and scale.
Two years ago, Sara Watson boldly predicted in this space that we might see a return of the RSS reader, or something like it, recognizing that the world of constant email newsletters was simply impossible to maintain. But the appetite wasn’t strong enough yet.
The difference, going into 2023, is that even the Inbox Zero people are going to have a reason to complain. Left without a better way to quickly zoom in and zoom out on the state of the universe (also known as the world according to Twitter), I predict those people will reach a point of frustration in even their ability to manage email.
It is at this point that the most organized people in late capitalism will rise up about a very small matter and demand something better: An RSS for the people, open source, easily used, and not some weird niche version for podcasts or that uses AI.
Two years ago, Substack was becoming a thing, but the newest spawn of DC beltway publications based on newsletter distribution had yet to break through. But now the mix includes Semafor, Puck, Punchbowl, more Axios Locals, and new ones on the horizon like Pluribis News.
There are two types of Inbox Zero people in this world: Those who do not read any news or shop online, and those who use a lot of Twitter. You may recall them talking about how RSS readers were obsolete in a world of Twitter (after all, even Google killed Reader). Twitter could be their perfectly curated and controlled sandbox of content. Now, it’s less socially acceptable to tweet.
Contrary to what The New York Times has speculated, we are not at peak newsletter. We are just at peak newsletter via email delivery. The 10% of people who claim that email newsletters are their primary form of news consumption include among them the most anal, powerful, and high-net worth people in the country.
I predict that these people won’t stand for a universe where their email becomes ever more crowded just because of Elon Musk mucking up Twitter. The only way to survive in a world where multiple DC-insider publications are launching multiple newsletters and Twitter is no longer socially acceptable is to use an RSS reader that satisfies the intelligentsia and political elite.
Will we get it? It may well be that the feed from email to robust RSS reader needs an API that isn’t yet possible, given password-protected, your-and-Gmail’s-eyes-only email. RSS readers may need their own ecology of analytics in order to be commercially desirable and worthy of tech investment.
Given that tech companies have taken to these newsletters to plead their case to the beltway, they certainly don’t want to lose the readers of these email newsletters, either. That provides a market incentive to make a better, bigger, bolder RSS reader. And if Ben Thompson is right that that “text on the internet is arguably the most competitive medium in all of human history,” then there is an opportunity for a very retro version of tech disruption.
Nikki Usher (they/them) is an associate professor in communication studies at the University of San Diego.
With using Twitter becoming increasingly like smoking — a habit you can’t quit but know you should — there’s a chance that a better RSS reader will finally, finally take hold and scale.
Two years ago, Sara Watson boldly predicted in this space that we might see a return of the RSS reader, or something like it, recognizing that the world of constant email newsletters was simply impossible to maintain. But the appetite wasn’t strong enough yet.
The difference, going into 2023, is that even the Inbox Zero people are going to have a reason to complain. Left without a better way to quickly zoom in and zoom out on the state of the universe (also known as the world according to Twitter), I predict those people will reach a point of frustration in even their ability to manage email.
It is at this point that the most organized people in late capitalism will rise up about a very small matter and demand something better: An RSS for the people, open source, easily used, and not some weird niche version for podcasts or that uses AI.
Two years ago, Substack was becoming a thing, but the newest spawn of DC beltway publications based on newsletter distribution had yet to break through. But now the mix includes Semafor, Puck, Punchbowl, more Axios Locals, and new ones on the horizon like Pluribis News.
There are two types of Inbox Zero people in this world: Those who do not read any news or shop online, and those who use a lot of Twitter. You may recall them talking about how RSS readers were obsolete in a world of Twitter (after all, even Google killed Reader). Twitter could be their perfectly curated and controlled sandbox of content. Now, it’s less socially acceptable to tweet.
Contrary to what The New York Times has speculated, we are not at peak newsletter. We are just at peak newsletter via email delivery. The 10% of people who claim that email newsletters are their primary form of news consumption include among them the most anal, powerful, and high-net worth people in the country.
I predict that these people won’t stand for a universe where their email becomes ever more crowded just because of Elon Musk mucking up Twitter. The only way to survive in a world where multiple DC-insider publications are launching multiple newsletters and Twitter is no longer socially acceptable is to use an RSS reader that satisfies the intelligentsia and political elite.
Will we get it? It may well be that the feed from email to robust RSS reader needs an API that isn’t yet possible, given password-protected, your-and-Gmail’s-eyes-only email. RSS readers may need their own ecology of analytics in order to be commercially desirable and worthy of tech investment.
Given that tech companies have taken to these newsletters to plead their case to the beltway, they certainly don’t want to lose the readers of these email newsletters, either. That provides a market incentive to make a better, bigger, bolder RSS reader. And if Ben Thompson is right that that “text on the internet is arguably the most competitive medium in all of human history,” then there is an opportunity for a very retro version of tech disruption.
Nikki Usher (they/them) is an associate professor in communication studies at the University of San Diego.
Priyanjana Bengani Partisan local news networks will collaborate
Simon Galperin Philanthropy stops investing in corporate media
Ariel Zirulnick Journalism doubles down on user needs
Peter Sterne AI enters the newsroom
Brian Stelter Finding new ways to reach news avoiders
Jim VandeHei There is no “peak newsletter”
Victor Pickard The year journalism and capitalism finally divorce
Mario García More newsrooms go mobile-first
Ben Werdmuller The internet is up for grabs again
Rodney Gibbs Recalibrating how we work apart
Tre'vell Anderson Continued culpability in anti-trans campaigns
Susan Chira Equipping local journalism
Mael Vallejo More threats to press freedom across the Americas
Kirstin McCudden We’ll codify protection of journalism and newsgathering
Nicholas Thompson The year AI actually changes the media business
Lisa Heyamoto The independent news industry gets a roadmap to sustainability
Nicholas Jackson There will be launches — and we’ll keep doing the work
Ryan Kellett Airline-like loyalty programs try to tie down news readers
Ryan Gantz “I’m sorry, but I’m a large language model”
Kaitlyn Wells We’ll prioritize media literacy for children
Jenna Weiss-Berman The economic downturn benefits the podcasting industry. (No, really!)
Eric Holthaus As social media fragments, marginalized voices gain more power
Errin Haines Journalists on the campaign trail mend trust with the public
Anita Varma Journalism prioritizes the basic need for survival
Jesse Holcomb Buffeted, whipped, bullied, pulled
Alexandra Borchardt The year of the climate journalism strategy
Mar Cabra The inevitable mental health revolution
Danielle K. Brown and Kathleen Searles DEI efforts must consider mental health and online abuse
Alex Sujong Laughlin Credit where it’s due
Juleyka Lantigua Newsrooms recognize women of color as the canaries in the coal mine
Sam Guzik AI will start fact-checking. We may not like the results.
Jim Friedlich Local journalism steps up to the challenge of civic coverage
Andrew Donohue We’ll find out whether journalism can, indeed, save democracy
Emma Carew Grovum The year to resist forgetting about diversity
Ståle Grut Your newsroom experiences a Midjourney-gate, too
Tamar Charney Flux is the new stability
Nicholas Diakopoulos Journalists productively harness generative AI tools
Laxmi Parthasarathy Unlocking the silent demand for international journalism
Michael Schudson Journalism gets more and more difficult
Daniel Trielli Trust in news will continue to fall. Just look at Brazil.
Kaitlin C. Miller Harassment in journalism won’t get better, but we’ll talk about it more openly
Masuma Ahuja Journalism starts working for and with its communities
Cory Bergman The AI content flood
Jakob Moll Journalism startups will think beyond English
Matt Rasnic More newsroom workers turn to organized labor
Kathy Lu We need emotionally agile newsroom leaders
Paul Cheung More news organizations will realize they are in the business of impact, not eyeballs
Al Lucca Digital news design gets interesting again
Jennifer Brandel AI couldn’t care less. Journalists will care more.
Eric Ulken Generative AI brings wrongness at scale
Larry Ryckman We’ll work together with our competitors
Khushbu Shah Global reporting will suffer
Jacob L. Nelson Despite it all, people will still want to be journalists
Amy Schmitz Weiss Journalism education faces a crossroads
Dannagal G. Young Stop rewarding elite performances of identity threat
Hillary Frey Death to the labor-intensive memo for prospective hires
Michael W. Wagner The backlash against pro-democracy reporting is coming
Joshua P. Darr Local to live, wire to wither
Elite Truong In platform collapse, an opportunity for community
Doris Truong Workers demand to be paid what the job is worth
David Cohn AI made this prediction
Leezel Tanglao Community partnerships drive better reporting
David Skok Renewed interest in human-powered reporting
Anna Nirmala News organizations get new structures
Jarrad Henderson Video editing will help people understand the media they consume
Walter Frick Journalists wake up to the power of prediction markets
Gordon Crovitz The year advertisers stop funding misinformation
Zizi Papacharissi Platforms are over
Cassandra Etienne Local news fellowships will help fight newsroom inequities
Shanté Cosme The answer to “quiet quitting” is radical empathy
Burt Herman The year AI truly arrives — and with it the reckoning
Martina Efeyini Talk to Gen Z. They’re the experts of Gen Z.
Peter Bale Rising costs force more digital innovation
Sumi Aggarwal Smart newsrooms will prioritize board development
Jennifer Choi and Jonathan Jackson Funders finally bet on next-generation news entrepreneurs
Joni Deutsch Podcast collaboration — not competition — breeds excellence
Laura E. Davis The year we embrace the robots — and ourselves
Parker Molloy We’ll reach new heights of moral panic
Sue Schardt Toward a new poetics of journalism
Dominic-Madori Davis Everyone finally realizes the need for diverse voices in tech reporting
Christina Shih Shared values move from nice-to-haves to essentials
Gina Chua The traditional story structure gets deconstructed
Valérie Bélair-Gagnon Well-being will become a core tenet of journalism
Christoph Mergerson The rot at the core of the news business
Kavya Sukumar Belling the cat: The rise of independent fact-checking at scale
J. Siguru Wahutu American journalism reckons with its colonialist tendencies
Ayala Panievsky It’s time for PR for journalism
An Xiao Mina Journalism in a time of permacrisis
Basile Simon Towards supporting criminal accountability
John Davidow A year of intergenerational learning
Karina Montoya More reporters on the antitrust beat
Jonas Kaiser Rejecting the “free speech” frame
Moreno Cruz Osório Brazilian journalism turns wounds into action
Josh Schwartz The AI spammers are coming
Sarabeth Berman Nonprofit local news shows that it can scale
Delano Massey The industry shakes its imposter syndrome
Sarah Alvarez Dream bigger or lose out
Richard Tofel The press might get better at vetting presidential candidates
Francesco Zaffarano There is no end of “social media”
Wilson Liévano Diaspora journalism takes the next step
Sarah Stonbely Growth in public funding for news and information at the state and local levels
Jody Brannon We’ll embrace policy remedies
Andrew Losowsky Journalism realizes the replacement for Twitter is not a new Twitter
Raney Aronson-Rath Journalists will band together to fight intimidation
Eric Thurm Journalists think of themselves as workers
Janelle Salanga Journalists work from a place of harm reduction
Alan Henry A reckoning with why trust in news is so low
Bill Adair The year of the fact-check (no, really!)
Tim Carmody Newsletter writers need a new ethics
Mary Walter-Brown and Tristan Loper Mission-driven metrics become our North Star
Alex Perry New paths to transparency without Twitter
Snigdha Sur Newsrooms get nimble in a recession
Anthony Nadler Confronting media gerrymandering
Cari Nazeer and Emily Goligoski News organizations step up their support for caregivers
Emily Nonko Incarcerated reporters get more bylines
Sarah Marshall A web channel strategy won’t be enough
Julia Angwin Democracies will get serious about saving journalism
Janet Haven ChatGPT and the future of trust
Rachel Glickhouse Humanizing newsrooms will be a badge of honor
Sue Robinson Engagement journalism will have to confront a tougher reality
Mariana Moura Santos A woman who speaks is a woman who changes the world
Eric Nuzum A focus on people instead of power
Ryan Nave Citizen journalism, but make it equitable
Megan Lucero and Shirish Kulkarni The future of journalism is not you
Stefanie Murray The year U.S. media stops screwing around and becomes pro-democracy
Esther Kezia Thorpe Subscription pressures force product innovation
Jessica Maddox Journalists keep getting manipulated by internet culture
Brian Moritz Rebuilding the news bundle
Mauricio Cabrera It’s no longer about audiences, it’s about communities
Sue Cross Thinking and acting collectively to save the news
S. Mitra Kalita “Everything sucks. Good luck to you.”
Taylor Lorenz The “creator economy” will be astroturfed
Gabe Schneider Well-funded journalism leaders stop making disparate pay
Elizabeth Bramson-Boudreau More of the same
Kerri Hoffman Podcasting goes local
Bill Grueskin Local news will come to rely on AI
Nikki Usher This is the year of the RSS reader. (Really!)
Johannes Klingebiel The innovation team, R.I.P.
Joe Amditis AI throws a lifeline to local publishers
Alexandra Svokos Working harder to reach audiences where they are
Joanne McNeil Facebook and the media kiss and make up
Felicitas Carrique and Becca Aaronson News product goes from trend to standard
Surya Mattu Data journalists learn from photojournalists
Sam Gregory Synthetic media forces us to understand how media gets made
Pia Frey Publishers start polling their users at scale
Upasna Gautam Technology that performs at the speed of news
Jaden Amos TikTok personality journalists continue to rise
Amethyst J. Davis The slight of the great contraction
Anika Anand Independent news businesses lead the way on healthy work cultures
Dana Lacey Tech will screw publishers over
Jessica Clark Open discourse retrenches
A.J. Bauer Covering the right wrong
Molly de Aguiar and Mandy Van Deven Narrative change trend brings new money to journalism