The Marshall Project email examples

The first email is a welcome: “Thanks for subscribing” explains the daily criminal justice reporting, points to notable past stories, and lets readers adjust subscription frequency. A newsletter follows on day 0, so the welcome experience quickly proves what the subscription delivers with reporting about prison temperatures in Texas and across the U.S.

The onboarding sequence then continues with “A brief history of The Marshall Project” on day 1. Founder Neil Barsky explains the mission and nonprofit journalism model, then asks readers to become members. This is one of the two emails in The Marshall Project onboarding sequence, alongside the initial welcome. The plain-text format, founder voice, and single CTA make this note feel like a direct institutional introduction rather than another news roundup.

After the initial welcome and newsletter, a digest and feedback request arrive on day 2. News emails then continue on day 3, day 4, day 5, and day 6, alternating between newsletters and digests. The sequence is notably dense early on, but the content changes enough to explain the frequency: individual editorial emails focus on a major development, while digests gather related reporting, analysis, and outside links.

The feedback request is not isolated. “Build the future of The Marshall Project” asks readers to take a community survey, with gift cards or official merchandise offered as a thank-you. The next four editorial emails also use survey treatment and invite readers to complete that survey, making the research request part of the reading experience rather than a separate campaign. If you use this approach, keep the editorial value clear and repeat the ask only where it fits the email’s main job.

The subject lines favor a concrete news hook: “Why chickens, not prisoners, get climate control” and “Trans prison care at the Supreme Court” identify the tension or institution immediately. Later subjects continue the story arc with “Death penalty drama in Tennessee” and “They executed her. She's not dead.” This gives readers a reason to open based on the reporting itself, without adding a promotional claim.

Preview text usually extends the story with a ruling, quote, or consequence. For example, the first newsletter preview says, “A Texas ruling put extreme heat and cold in prisons and detention camps in the hot seat this week.” The welcome preview instead states the subscription promise directly: “Welcome to The Marshall Project! Thanks for trusting us to be your source of comprehensive criminal justice news.” You can copy this division of labor: use the subject for a precise editorial hook, then use preview text to supply context or clarify the value of subscribing.