Why NewsBreak Might Be a Platform to Land Some of Your Nicely Written Words
Local history stories have value to readers and your pocketbook
What is NewsBreak?
I’m including this section because not everyone is aware of NewsBreak. I wasn’t aware of NewsBreak until six months ago.
Briefly, it’s a platform where you can apply for monetization once you have 100 registered followers and 10 published articles, and there’s no monthly fee. NewsBreak is a widely popular news app that is an aggregator (it collects content and displays that content to readers or provides associated links to that content). Obviously, if you search the internet, you can find out more.
According to its Overview on LinkedIn:
We define a new way for users to engage with local news. Since its founding in 2015, News Break has grown by leaps and bounds. We are now the #1 news app on both iOS and Android in the United States. With 12M+ daily active users and 40M+ monthly app users (data source: App Annie, comScore), we’re the no.1 local news & information platform in the United States. (Source.)
The objective of NewsBreak is to revive and renew local news.
Where is NewsBreak located?
According to Protocol, NewsBreak is headquartered in Mountain View, California. It also has offices in Seattle, Beijing, and Shanghai. Currently, NewsBreak is testing the grounds in Denver regarding its motivation to provide original local news.
According to Nieman Lab’s piece, Denver is NewsBreak’s “test market” for original local news on a national app, the staff in Denver (“full-time and part-time journalists in Denver, along with a dedicated editor, to publish local news on its platform”) are paid by NewsBreak. To read more about that experiment, go here.
When did NewsBreak begin?
NewsBreak began operating in 2015. Its parent company is Particle Media.
NewsBreak is steered by experienced Chinese entrepreneurs and engineers in the United States and China. The company CEO is Jeff Zheng who also is a co-founder.
NewsBreak advertises to have 45 million monthly users and 1.5 billion monthly views.
Writing on NewsBreak
There are several reasons why some writers become either unhappy or disappointed with NewsBreak. If I speak from the goal of earnings potential only and my observations, I find the platform takes patience, you have to be able to adapt to policy changes and you have to experiment with different topics.
I started writing on NewsBreak in September 2021 which was also after a policy change where new writers wouldn’t be receiving the previous contracted monthly base amount. I remember thinking, bummer on that.
I was monetized in November after obtaining my 100 registered followers and had published over the requisite amount of articles.
I don’t like to give up on anything unless it becomes unquestionably clear that I need to, i.e., writing on Vocal Media, a platform where certain perks have defined earnings. It’s more than challenging to satisfactorily increase earnings on Vocal.
It wasn’t until February 2022 that I decided to try local history stories to see how that would change my stats.
How can you succeed on NewsBreak?
I think the requirements are straightforward. The guidelines are easy to understand. Produce quality content and no clickbait titles. Just knowing NewsBreak drives traffic to your articles is a perk.
Why is patience important?
NewsBreak is one of those online writing platforms that causes some writers to pause. One reason is that it’s been seen as a place where some writers just cut and paste some news with a little bit of writing here and there. It’s also a place where comments can be rough so you have to have thick skin if you read all of them.
A roomful of contributing writers is not the same as journalists. I am not a journalist which sounds like a contradiction to my college degree. I am a driven writer who likes to paint attractive language to make a point, describe a topic, and praise the effects of research.
On every writing platform where there is the potential to generate earnings, it’s hard for me to believe that every writer on these platforms isn’t interested in earnings even when they say they aren’t.
If you’re interested in pocket change for a hamburger, then I suppose you don’t have to focus on the quality or style of writing. However, if you want that four-course meal with your favorite pinot, then you have to care about the quality of your writing. Patience can be key.
I’ve been practicing on NewsBreak until I find what works and what doesn’t work, and I have found one category that does. I was patient.
Because you need to build community and readership, patience is required. It’s not realistic to expect high earnings after one month or even six months of writing on platforms. Every instance is different though.
As stated earlier, I started writing with NewsBreak in September 2021. It took me about six weeks to reach the requisite 100 registered followers to apply for monetization which was approved in November. I had one story that earned a lot of views bringing in a little over $100 for that month. Fast forward to my sixth month of writing, my earnings are currently five times that.
I didn’t want to write cookie-cutter pieces, so I also wrote about human stories. Like any other writing platform, it can be hit and miss in testing the ground to see what your readers want. Don’t make assumptions. Instead of also republishing pieces from other platforms, I decided to look into historical venues.
Then NewsBreak had a policy change wanting writers to focus more on generating local content that wasn’t focused on:
…crime or public safety and health-related topics including, but not limited to, COVID-19 and weather advisories (these areas we want to leave to those with qualified backgrounds to cover). Coverage of these areas may result in lower RPMs, while we reward quality original content with higher RPMs. As the RPM is dynamic, it may change over a story’s lifespan at anytime. (Emphasis added.)
What about earnings?
Earnings have a designated rate per 1,000 views. Factors that determine the rate are dependent on your subject, how “local” it is, and of course, the quality of your writing. Note NewsBreak rewards “quality original content.” The formula for determining revenue (they use RPM) is time-consuming to figure out — let alone if I ever could.
While you focus on your quality content, think about what content/topic has the potential to drive readers to your article. What do you think the people in your community downloading their NewsBreak app are going to want to read?
It’s not all about the title being clicked on their phone — although that’s important. You could have a title loved by everyone to the moon and back but if your content is awful — well, you know what scrolling up and away means.
At the beginning of 2022, I started focusing on history subjects and reeled that in beginning in February with a focus on history related to the city I live in. I started making a list to see what readers might be interested in and I didn’t limit it to the current time frame. I started reaching back to over 100 years ago too. Since I have a passion for research, this made it interesting and fun.
For the first half of March 2022, my earnings exploded so I’m publishing history pieces often. I have read that traffic wanes down and while there’s truth to that, I also believe that traffic can return. I have some older pieces that are still being read.
As an example, I wrote about a restaurant that opened after World War II and was my family’s favorite place after we were transferred to Kansas City. I knew it was a popular place before it had to close down and 99% of the comments received have all been positive because they also had a memorable experience there. I’m sharing that story below to show you how one local story can affect readership and in turn, earnings.
This story and subsequent ones showed me history-related topics work with NewsBreak readers or followers in my local area. Interestingly, too, if articles are being shared hundreds of times, earnings won’t quickly wane.
I hope history repeats itself in April.
Followers on NewsBreak
If you have any concerns about followers, it’s pretty easy to gain followers on NewsBreak. I currently have close to 3k. I say don’t fret over that number because they will come and don’t get hung up on whether they are reading your pieces or not because they do get read in whole or in part. I can generally tell based on the comments.
I really wouldn’t focus on follower count too much on any platform you write with. Also, if some followers don’t read your piece today, it doesn’t mean they won’t read what you publish tomorrow. Write about popular locations that were open for over 50 years. Write about anything historical.
Comments
I will say when I first started with NewsBreak and was testing the waters, generally, the comments were nonsensical and negative. And, like with other negative people, the tendency to judge the person with the negative comment can be habit-forming, so don’t go there. On every website open for comments, it’s just not unusual to see unnecessary comments which I why I avoid them.
There’s a host of reasons why some people write negative comments. I’m trying to write content that shuts that down.
Since I’ve started writing about history, most of my comments if not all of them are uplifting and positive. Interesting flip-flop compared to last year. Some of my readers have told me they want more positive stories.
I welcome positive comments any day; I welcome earnings too.
One of my comments about the old restaurant shared above read: This restaurant was a favorite of our entire family for over 30 years. There was something on the menu for everyone. Always delicious, always a treat. We miss it.
The interesting detail on writing about local history is that you’re tapping into the memories of people who experienced something at the venue you’re writing about. When you receive one comment after another that’s so positive, it’s a gratifying feeling to know you brought up some good memories.
Knowing the restaurant story was effective because it was meaningful, I decided to write about an amusement park that was built by Italian immigrants. The twist in the story was it also included the effects of racism and the Civil Rights Movement. But people remember and resonate with this piece of history. The only time I was at the park was in 1977 which was also the year it closed down. I’m including that story below because it’s interesting history too.
Let your local news stations report the news
If you publish on NewsBreak, you’re aware that your local news stations as well as other major networks are all on that platform.
The bottom line is that earnings are possible if you’re a writer who is motivated to put the work into performing some research and producing quality content. Tell your story about history in your city if you write on NewsBreak. A lot of people are interested in history especially if you take them down memory lane. Also, if you have personal experience with your topic, it’s even better.
My motivation was wanting to find the subjects that would work. Yes, earnings are a perk, but I’m also self-competitive and I wasn’t going to give up on NewsBreak until I found subjects that would benefit the readers and my stats page — like reaching for some common denominator.
I’m also not suggesting writing local history-related topics will work for everyone, but it is an option to consider. I do know that NewsBreak is more focused on local stories, especially ones that are meaningful, positive, or uplifting.
If you’re not writing on NewsBreak and want to, please consider using my referral link which is an affiliate link.
Thank you for reading. Make every moment fabulous.
© Cathy Coombs
About the Author
Earning a B.A. in English Journalism & Creative Writing in my 40s affirmed my love for literature, language, and writing. I just published my third eBook, Made to Think, and am currently finalizing and editing a true-crime book that I researched for the past decade that I’m excited about.
Connect via Twitter or LinkedIn. Website: https://writerallday.com/
