This column is from Trendlines, my business newsletter that covers the forces shaping the economy in Boston and beyond. If you’d like to receive it via email on Mondays and Thursdays, sign up here.
We interrupt this regularly scheduled Trendlines to bring you some breaking news: The Globe is expanding its local business coverage with Power Play, a new newsletter from my colleagues Shirley Leung and Jon Chesto.
Shirley and Chesto (we all call him Chesto, affectionately) have decades of experience covering the companies and people who drive business in the city and across the region. There’s no pair of journalists better suited to give you the scoops, inside gossip, and analysis on the local business scene.
I reached out to Shirley and Chesto with questions about their plans for Power Play. (Except where noted, they crafted a joint response, in keeping with their tag-team approach to the newsletter.)
What can readers expect from Power Play?
The newsletter builds on what we’re known for: delivering scoops and telling readers how the business and political worlds intersect. We’ll each take turns writing the main item in the newsletter, followed by more “scooplets,” or news nuggets and insights that each of us will write. Expect a sharp voice, more analysis, and a fresh design. We want to become your go-to guilty pleasure read.
Who will Power Play be written for? C-suite types? The typical Globe reader? Both?
All of the above, of course! As we do now, we tend to write for leaders in business, political, and civic circles, but also for the people who work with them, advise them, and aspire to become one of them. But the newsletter should be of interest to anyone who wants to understand the levers of power in Massachusetts — why some bills die on the vine on Beacon Hill, why some industries flourish and others wither, why some politicians get their way and why others don’t.
Why branch out to a newsletter?
People consume news in many formats. Some people like to feel the physical paper in their hands, while others prefer to read it on their phones. Some folks prefer to listen to the news via podcasts. A newsletter delivered by email is just another way to reach readers where they are.
Shirley, You’ve been a business columnist since 2013. How will what you write for Power Play differ, if at all?
First of all, I’m not giving up my column. It’s the best job in Boston. My columns are longer than what I would write for Power Play. I’m still figuring out which ideas are better for the newsletter versus the column, but I anticipate I’ll continue to wade into favorite topics like City Hall, real estate development, transportation, and gender and diversity. I also plan to continue co-hosting Globe Opinion’s “Say More” podcast.
Jon, Will you continue writing Bold Types? Or will those kinds of people-focused items be folded into Power Play?
Bold Types will continue unchanged as well. There’s considerable overlap between the business community as covered in the Bold Types column and our newsletter. We’ll certainly feature some people-focused items in Power Play, but they’ll be quick takes — the meaning behind a new CEO pick, for example, or an activist investor cutting a deal — as opposed to the interview-driven pieces that tend to make up the bulk of Bold Types.
Will Power Play be available to non-Globe subscribers? Will the contents of the newsletter also appear on bostonglobe.com and in the newspaper?
Power Play will be the Globe’s first subscriber-only newsletter. That means you can only read Power Play if you subscribe to the Globe. If you sign up for the newsletter, you will be the first to read what’s in it. The newsletter will also appear on bostonglobe.com and in the print newspaper.
How can readers sign up to get Power Play in their in-boxes?
Go to bostonglobe.com/powerplay. We expect to launch on April 14, arriving in your email box Tuesday and Friday afternoons.
Larry Edelman can be reached at larry.edelman@globe.com.
