Goodbye Newsbreak

One thing I've learned as a freelance writer throughout the years is never put your eggs all in one basket. It’s always best to have a couple of options as backup in case one of your writing sources goes under. That’s happened to me a few times and again recently.

Newsbreak one of my go-to writing platforms and sources of income, has let me go. If you're a contributor for Newbreak, then you know they're making changes to their contributor program.

In March, they sent out an email saying they were evolving their contributor program. All current contributors were allowed to reapply for the new program and their previous content and accounts were all deleted.

I'd been writing with Newsbreak since May 2023. I mostly wrote about entertainment and lifestyle news, which is my niche. I gained a big following and started making good money. My pay range started in the hundreds, then grew into the thousands.

While Newsbreak was a blessing, it also had its downsides too. There were times where traffic was slow on the site. Article views dwindled and my pay sometimes decreased to the double digits. Yet, I stuck with it, hoping things would turn around.

Eventually they did and my views and pay increased.

However, at the beginning of 2025, everything seemed to be going downhill again. Views started to go down again not just for me, but for other contributors. No matter how much I wrote, traffic just wasn't hitting. When I emailed Newsbreak about the situation, they said they were giving more focus to local news. I decided to switch my articles to focusing about stories in my hometown, but that didn't do anything to help either.

It seemed like nothing was going right.

March seemed to be a turning point. Traffic and article views were back up, and I got a decent pay for that month. Yet, the new contributor program messed things up.

Like all Newsbreak contributors, I was given the chance to reapply for the program, which I did on March 26th. I was told I would hear a response within 30 days. So I patiently waited and remained optimistic, although my gut instinct was telling me something different.

My bad feeling increased when I went on Reddit and read that many Newsbreak contributors were rejected from the new program.

Then a little more than a month after I sent in my application, I received word of my fate.

The email read:

“Thank you for your interest in the NewsBreak Contributor program.

After careful consideration, we have decided not to move forward with your application at this time. Each application is evaluated based on factors such as originality, credibility, quality, previous writing experience, overall activeness as a writer, professional affiliations, social media presence and alignment with our standards.

Thank you again for your interest! We look forward to potentially collaborating with you in the future.”

Their email left me dejected and a bit confused. I thought I met the qualifications they were looking for. I was an active contributor who followed their guidelines and wrote unique content. I also had previous writing experience for various other sites.

But I guess I didn’t measure up to their new standards.

While I’m upset my time with Newsbreak has ended, I’m not crying over it. I’m doing what I always do, concentrating on my work for other writing sites. Plus, I’m also looking into a few other writing sources. You can’t be too careful in the world of freelancing.

As for Newsbreak, I don’t know what plans they have for their new program, but I wish them and their contributors good luck.