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So Many Reasons You Need theSkimm News in Your Life Now

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SCAD ATL chapter.

Like every election year, I (and so many others) have had an over exposure to news and drama this year.  Yet, unlike other election years, because of the results of our unprecedented election of the business man that is Donald Trump, many cannot seem to break away from the news for fear of missing something key and accidentally letting the world fall apart.  Oops.  Some, like me, have taken a time away from the craze that had led me to a near emotional breakdown – and it’s helped. The news can be a place of dread, hopelessness and fear and let’s just face it – that ain’t healthy, especially when you have friends and family on both sides of the issues! It’s kind of like watching a game of ping pong for months on end. I am no longer willing to share in that mentality, but I realize that I can’t just hide away from it under some rock and assume things will get better or stop happening on their own.  So, how does one stay generally aware of what is going on in our country without going off the deep end?  Enter, theSkimm news.  The nonpartisan hey girl solution to traditional news.  I was made aware of theSkimm recently and immediately upon reading my first Daily Skimm, it felt like a breath of fresh air compared to a news predicting doom’s day on the daily. I think the keyword here is nonpartisan.  Instead of dread, this unique news source has a hand full of smart, current daily news with a light heart and a balanced, unbiased portrayal of what’s going on – not to mention, on-point design and illustration.  Like most well-designed, thoughtful platforms, this one will have you at hello, good news.  Here are like a thousand (or about 5) reasons why you will want to have this “news” letter delivered to your inbox.

The Founders are smart, successful news women already (and they’re only in their 20’s)…

Can we say, relatable?  Let’s face it, we typically read, listen to, talk about people and things that we can relate to.  And these ladies are fresh off the trail that we are on, and who is more appropriate to share news with future smart, success women than the like.  Also, they have a pretty neat meeting story. Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin met while in Rome studying abroad in college, and later reconnected in D.C. as producers for NBC News. As lovers of the news and the “go-to” girls for current events for all of their friends, ­­they knew that something had to change if people were going to be able to experience the news as they did – with passion and fun.  While working for NBC, they realized that people who wanted to be smart about current goings-on, didn’t have the time to make it their full or part-time job and they needed a new outlet or rather, inlet.  Hence, theSkimm news idea was born, that makes it easier to be smarter.   Basically, Skimmers skim so you can reap the benefits and find what you need to know. 

It’s the new media news outlet that speaks Millennial

If Millennials had a language, what would it be? Technology – social technology, to be specific. theSkimm is accessible to practically everyone because of it’s fearless embrace of the channels that most active people use the most.  Of course, Skimm has a great website with fun written content, a simple (gorgeous) design, a great daily (quite literal) newsletter and the makings of a bi-lingual blog, you heard me, bi-lingual – it also caters to a newer generation that gets most daily news via social media – providing Vogue-worthy news right onto Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, and yes, Snapchat.  theSkimm also hosts a sweet app with the capability of making your life easier in more ways than just colorful news (see Skimm Ahead).

The Daily Skimm

When I say easy news, I mean easy breezy.  Signing up for this news service (which is free BTW and delivered M-F early in the morning to your inbox) is one of the smartest things you will do this year as a person who wants to be actively involved without feeling bipolar.  With a daily round up of news-worthy subjects with attention-getting titles and catchy phrases that hardly feels like news, theSkimm news begins in the morning with a quote and a hand-full of stories-of-the-day that link to further information on the subjects, should you want to read more.  It’s what I like to call doable.

There’s A Guide for practically everything

Yes, theSkimm has a guide for nearly every subject that matters right now (or in recent news).  So, whether you want to know about Populism in the EU or simply need to know what kind of people run our country, theSkimm guides are where it’s at.  These guides essentially pack information into the places that people go to by choice.  These guides go in-depth into a particular subject of interest, telling you everything you need to know about how much is out there on the topic, while you simply take in the findings.  

theSkimm App: Skimm Ahead

Reading the news is super fun with theSkimm; why not enjoy everything else theSkimm app, Skimm Ahead has to offer?  Spilling important up-coming tasks, dates and fun occasions into your calendar, Skimm Ahead makes you more successful at keeping up with what else is going on.  It has a small fee of $2.99/month associated, which is a little over nothing and less than Spotify Prime, while investing into the future of news and helping provide for your everyday socialite-homebody planning needs.

It’s a short read for a busy life.  If you are ready to get to the news that doesn’t weigh you down, sign up for theSkimm for yourself!  If you already read theSkimm and love it, why not become a Skimm’bassador?  Free swag, first access to internships and so many networking + opportunities, this is a pretty sweet deal for the forward thinking newser. 

Starting out as a staff writer & visual contributor in the Spring of 2016, Christine soon became the replacement Campus Correspondent at Her Campus Savannah College of Art and Design for the 2016-17 school year. In January 2017, she facilitated the launch of the SCAD Atlanta branch's own editorial launch, apart from the Savannah campus, leading the team to win some 2017 Her Campus awards!  She is an illustrator and avid history lover, and she also served in the Army as an Analyst and went to Bethel Ministry School before attending SCAD.  Her goal, as an illustrator, writer and in life in general, is to mine life of the treasure contained within.  She loves to find and put on display ideas, people (portraiture) and beautiful things.  Valuable things that are all around us in our everyday life in the form of friends, coworkers, classmates, nature, even industry.  She loves music (even writing songs and performing!), dance and new adventures.   Eventually she plans to write and illustrate children's books, have her own business featuring greeting cards, paper products, and her own revolutionary online/physical editorial publication.  For more about Christine check out her website at www.christineburney.com.