Are you an inbox minimalist or an email junkie? Do you catch emails as they arrive, or save them for a slow day (which may not ever come)? Email newsletters are a competitive field. 15% of public servants have more than 100 emails land in their inbox every day*. We want to help you separate the gems from the clutter.
A good email newsletter can update, inform, guide, inspire and expand your knowledge. We asked our community to recommend the best newsletters for people working in government. Here’s what they suggested.
Before we start, we ought to promote our new Daily Briefing. Give it a read, and if you like it, subscribe.
In no particular order:
1. Wonk Week
—by the Social Market Foundation
Focus: UK Policy 🇬🇧
Why it’s great: “They distil research and publications really well, across a range of policy areas and political perspectives.”
2. Implementation in Action
–by The Center for Implementation
Focus: Turning policies into reality
Nominated by: Mark Sutherland, Provincial Health Services Authority of British Columbia, Canada
Why it’s great: “Free courses, well-researched info, committed to equity and capacity building.”
3.The Daily
—by The Conversation
Focus: Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Nominated by: Kristin Boag, Director, Australian Public Service Commission
Why it's great: “This newsletter is a good summary of the collaboration between academics and journalists that is the world’s leading publisher of research-based news and analysis.”
4.Local Government Association
Focus: Various, including:
- Improvement and innovation bulletin (monthly),
- Parliamentary and public affairs bulletin (monthly)
- Analysis and Research alert (monthly)
- LGA daily news headlines newsletter for Local Gov
Nominated by: Ferzanah Ahmed, Head of Intelligence, Insights and Change, UK
Why it’s great: “They give me a good mix of insight and information on what is happening in Local Government right now, both generally and specifically for my area of work. They also expose me to innovation and new ideas.”
5.The Functionary
–by The Institute for Research on Public Policy
Focus: Canada 🇨🇦
Description: A newsletter for people who work in or just want to know what’s ticking inside the federal government.
Why it’s great: It’s an earpiece to the conversations, challenges and triumphs in the Canadian government. It’s written by and for Canadian public servants, and is great for staying in the loop.
6.Friday Finds
–by Mike Taylor
Focus: Learning, design and technology 🌐
Nominated by: Matthew Dyer MLIS, Training Manager, USA
Why it’s great: “It expertly explores, refines and curates the best from the intersection of learning, design and technology. Talent development practitioners would benefit the most from reading, but anyone responsible for training, presenting, persuading, influencing, marketing, communicating effectively, or using a computer would find something valuable to read each week…. but be warned: convincing your agency to let you try the latest and greatest tech as highlighted in the newsletter can make you feel a bit like a modern-day Sisyphus. Still, with more awareness comes more willingness to try, and this newsletter will increase awareness exponentially each week.”
7.Politico Newsletters
Focus: Government gossip and policymaking
Nominated by: Apolitical
Why it’s great: Politico’s regional newsletters are the gold standard in political curtain twitching. Plus, their policy newsletters provide fantastic insights into the ideas and policymaking processes that drive the agenda today.
8.CityLab
–by Bloomberg
Focus: Making cities work better for the humans who live in them
Why it’s great: The majority of humans live in cities, and so creating healthy, thriving urban environments is a lens through which a lot of policy has to be fed. This newsletter collates the best ideas and initiatives.
9.Ada Lovelace Institute
Focus: AI and data policy
Why it’s great: The Ada Lovelace Institute are at the cutting edge of AI regulation. They share pithy summaries of complex, 21st-century challenges in government.
10.The Digest
–by The GovLab
Focus: Innovation and data policy
Why it’s great: It’s an outstanding curation of articles, essays, reports and books at the intersection of technology, innovation and governance. You won’t have time to read all of the recommendations — but you’ll wish you did!
11.GovLaunch
Focus: Sharing innovative policies from around the world
Why it’s great: Government would work so much better if it just did what is already working elsewhere. GovLaunch is an interactive bank of exciting policy innovations and case studies.
Quickfire recommendations:
- Institute for Government newsletter
- The Consultation Institute (fortnightly)
- Partnership for Young London (weekly)
- Apolitical Weekly Briefing (of course) — Thanks! 💌
Thanks to Ferzanah Ahmed, mentioned above, for these.
Special recommendations for civil servants in Canada 🇨🇦
- DPI Canada
- The Governance and Recordkeeping Around the World newsletter
- Canadian Digital Service newsletter
- Canada School of Public Service — Digital Academy newsletter
- E-Horizons Project newsletter
- Government of Canada Campus newsletter
- Infolettre de l'ÉFPC-CSPF newsletter
- Académie du numérique international
- Portail linguistique du Canada
- Québec - Avis aux médias
Thanks to public servant who recommended the above. They added some sage advice:
“It's important to be informed. Just register to all newsletters from your government institution, your association, union, your line of work to stay on top of things. Then unregister from those that do not contribute to your interest.”
*From 428 respondents in August 2021
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