• by Ray Schultz , November 15, 2022

The Washington Post is launching a twice-weekly newsletter to help people grasp and take control of technology, starting  Nov. 22. 

The new newsletter, “The Tech Friend,” will be anchored by strategy editor Shira Ovide. Appearing on Tuesdays and Fridays, it will build on the core value of “Help Desk,” The Post’s personal tech vertical. 

“In the year since we launched 'Help Desk,' we’ve seen a large appetite for coverage that helps people understand how rapid changes in technology impact their lives,” states Yun-Hee Kim, personal technology editor at The Washington Post. 

Kim continues that more than half of "Help Desk" readers are under the age of 45. 

“This newsletter felt like a natural next step in expanding this coverage as it provides busy readers the quick, easy and digestible tips they can immediately apply to common dilemmas such as how to use your technology more sustainably, or how to reset your relationship with social media,” Kim states. 

Ovide has been covering technology for more than a decade at the New York Times, Bloomberg Opinion and the Wall Street Journal. 

“Think of me as a wise, slightly grumpy friend who sorts through the babble to help you feel more confident about your technology choices, wags her finger at technology that is failing you, and helps you see the context that is bigger than you,” Ovide states. 

The newsletter will also feature "Help Desk" columnist Geoffrey A. Fowler, who will write it three times a month, and "Help Desk" reporters Heather Kelly, Chris Velazco, Tatum Hunter and Danielle Abril.