The Guardian has announced that Libby Brooks has been appointed as lead writer for its UK morning newsletter First Edition, which is read by hundreds of thousands of readers every day. Hettie O’Brien will be joining Libby as a First Edition writer alongside her work on the Guardian’s Long Reads. Michael Segalov joins as a writer and deputy editor in London, Jacqueline Housden will join Guardian Australia as an assistant editor working across Australian newsletters and First Edition, and in the US Ruth Baron and Caroline Phinney will lead the development and growth of US newsletters.
In addition, the Guardian has announced that Micha Frazer-Carroll has been appointed assistant editor and writer for The Long Wave - Nesrine Malik’s newsletter which brings together the biggest Black stories from around the world.
The Guardian says it now has more than 50 newsletters, with nearly six million unique subscribers in total. Saturday Edition, authored by the Guardian’s editor-in-chief Katharine Viner, reaches close to 2.5 million readers every week. In March the 1000th email of First Edition landed in readers’ inboxes.
The Guardian is also experimenting with new channels, added the publisher, launching a food-focused newsletter, Feast, on Substack last month.
Toby Moses, the Guardian’s head of newsletters said: “I’m delighted to welcome Libby and Hettie to the First Edition team for the next stage of the newsletter’s development. They bring with them an enviable wealth of experience and expertise. I have no doubt they will build on the excellent foundations put in place by Archie Bland and Nimo Omer when we launched four years ago.
“With support from Michael in London and Jacqui in Sydney, I’m excited for readers to see what the future has in store for First Edition. They join our superb roster of writers and editors whose journalism connects with readers every day on the topics they care about: from international news, to sport, food, gaming and pop culture.
“The remarkable success of our newsletters is a testament to the deep bond we’ve built with our readers, creating communities and conversations around brilliant Guardian journalism. Investing in these positions helps ensure our impactful reporting reaches audiences with the warmth, personality and intelligence they expect from us.”
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