When Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin first launched TheSkimm, a daily news-digest email aimed at busy young women, back in 2012, media critics dismissed the conversational tone, mix of low and highbrow content, and use of memes. In 2017, Slate dubbed it “the Ivanka Trump of newsletters” that “treats its readers like they’ve never read an article, looked at a map, or accidentally seen a CNN segment in their dentists’ waiting rooms.” How times have changed: With more than 5 million active subscribers across its email products, according to Axios, TheSkimm has earned its reputation as a crucial media resource for female readers who are interested in the world. And TheSkimm itself is doing important things for that world.
When, by the end of the first day of Donald Trump’s second term, a government-run website with reproductive health information, ReproductiveRights.gov, abruptly vanished, TheSkimm absorbed the content and republished it. The Skimm plans to host the resurrected page in perpetuity. The move wasn’t about partisanship for Weisberg and Zakin, who, in a wide-ranging interview with Vanity Fair, say they have no plans to endorse candidates in the future. The person whose team they’re on hasn’t changed since they launched the business from their shared couch: It’s
The post How TheSkimm, Once Deemed “the Ivanka Trump of Newsletters,” Grew Into a Must-Read for Political Leaders on the Left—and Right appeared first on Vanity Fair.
