When developing a local newsletter, you should always think about who your audience is and how you can provide them with information tailored to their interests.
In this article on NPR Training, Lauren Bracey Scheidt, senior product manager, listener journey at NPR, outlines three types of newsletters that can work for public media and local audiences. She provides advice on which one you should try depending on your goals, how to structure it, and the common pitfalls for each model.
For example, the 'content vertical' newsletter focuses on specific topics which are of particular interest to a certain target group. However, you shouldn't limit your readership too much by having a subscriber identity that's too narrow, such as "first-year male nurses who live in Peoria", she points out.
If you want to craft a daily news email, such as Washington's 730dc which informs local residents about events in their area each day at 7.30am, and you only have one original piece of reporting to feature, you can always rely on aggregating interesting stories from other sources.
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