Following news every day can be difficult, especially if you're juggling a busy schedule. Not only does it take a lot of time to actually sit down and watch or read the news, but also it takes more effort than you have time for when it comes to the pieces on politics or foreign policies. It’s not that many don’t want to know what’s going on in our
world; it’s that they don’t understand what they’re being told. That’s where theSkimm comes in.  

Originally working for NBC News, Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin decided two years ago that they wanted to go on their own with a new, easier way to get the news and together created theSkimm.  theSkimm is a daily newsletter that emails you Monday through Friday around 6:00am and breaks down the news into simpler terms.  

“It breaks down the current events in a smart, funny and witty way so you can keep up with the news without having to know it if you’re on the go and be able to join conversations about current events,” said senior Mimi Thomas, a co-brand ambassador of theSkimm here at the University of Alabama.  

“They cover everything from international news going on like things with ISIS and the Syria conflicts and what’s going on with Russia and Ukraine to other things like with the NFL, celebrities, or basic things going on locally,” said senior Laura Gregory, the other co-brand ambassador with Thomas. “theSkimm just breaks it down in a really easy way.”  

If just reading the basic facts about the news isn’t enough, theSkimm will include links that lead to an actual article if wanting to know more about a certain story. It also includes fun giveaways or contests that are available at the time. Then towards the end of the daily email, there may be playlists you can download or other funny things to look at as well.  

“It’s one of the first things I read when I wake up, and it’s just a good way to keep you in the know with what’s going on,” said Gregory. “When you have a professor or people out in the community talking about current events, you’ll know what they’re talking about because you’ll have gotten this email that morning.”  

“It’s just a great tool to have on your phone or your computer for while you’re drinking your coffee or bored in class just to quickly read the news,” said Thomas.  

While theSkimm may be more geared towards a female audience as its logo is a silhouette of a woman draped in pearls with her pumps, purse and smartphone in hand, that doesn’t mean these daily emails won’t be beneficial to men also.  Completely free, all one has to do to receive these daily newsletters is go to theSkimm.com, enter an email address, and press subscribe. Besides the original “thank you for subscribing” email, the only emails the site sends is one each weekday morning with the most updated news – theSkimm won’t blow up one’s inbox in other words.  Thanks to theSkimm, news stories are no longer boring or too complicated to understand.