Slow News Day

A New Paper Asks Its Writers to Publish Less

Members of Slow News Day publish one article a fortnight, comment on one article a week, and judge what they read by hand

Human Writing Is the Expectation

Sydney — Slow News Day is a publication for people who would rather read one careful article than scroll past fifty quick ones. Human writing is the expectation here. Every person passes a Human Check before they read a word, and Members judge every article with two kinds of Mark.

The rules are few and they apply to everyone. A Member may publish one article in any 14 days. Each week a Member chooses one article to comment on, and may then comment on it as often as they like. A Writer replying on their own article does not use up that choice.

Because Members post rarely and comment rarely, there is less to read, and more of it is worth reading. Your Feed shows what you chose to follow and a few articles you did not, and then it ends.

Two Kinds of Mark

A Great Writing Mark says an article is good human writing. Each Member has four a month, and any left unused lapse at the month’s end.

An AI Smell Mark says an article reads as if AI wrote it. A Member may give one to any article they suspect.

The count of each is printed on every article. Nobody sees who gave a Mark.

How the Feed Is Built

Your Feed shows the Writers you follow, newest first. Nothing in it is ordered by predicted reactions.

A few Open Spaces each day carry articles by Writers you don’t follow. Every new article gets its first readers before any article gets more; after that, the articles Members mark well for each reading fill the spaces. Articles with more than a few AI Smell Marks appear less.

When you have read everything, the Feed says so and stops.

People, Not Credentials

The Human Check confirms that a person, not a program, is joining. Slow News Day never asks for identification.

Members write under the name they give and may state their current job. Where they name a company, they confirm an email address at its domain; the title is theirs to state.

Your first month is free, with everything a paying Member can do.