Local Newsletter Issue Writer: Free Claude Skill

How it works

Set dates and townsClaude computes the 14-day news cutoff and the 7-day events window and lists every covered town.
Gate every candidateEach item must prove its town, date and source, or it is cut with a reason.
Pick news and eventsUpbeat, concrete news first, banned topics out, and a spread of events with the biggest one featured.
Pick the featuresOne restaurant, business, home and pet, each with a photo, and no free features for ad-buying categories.
Write every sectionEach section follows a fixed format, from The Gist and Why It Matters to the one-line event vibe.
Sweep and scoreHouse style is checked, the issue is scored out of 10, and anything under 8 is fixed before handoff.

Have this ready

Your covered towns and send date
5+ news links with sources
12+ events with direct links
Restaurant, business, home and pet options with photos
Your banned sources and paid ad categories
Any announcement or ask for the intro

What you get back

Three subject line and preview options
The full issue in house order
A list of what was cut and why
Items to verify and photos to collect
A score out of 10

A taste of the output

From the worked exampleMade-up town, for illustration

LOCAL LOWDOWN

🏊 Maple Grove's rec center is officially a go
The Gist: The city council approved a $42M aquatic and recreation center on 18 acres at Hollis Road and Route 9. Phase one, a competition pool and splash pad, breaks ground in March 2027.
Why It Matters: If your kids swim on a club team, this puts a competition pool in town for the first time.
Read more

RESTAURANT RADAR

🌮 The breakfast taco line starts at seven
Casa Lumbre opened on Elm Street at the start of the month, and the early crowd has already figured out the move: get there before 8 or the chorizo and egg runs out.

LOCAL EVENTS

⭐ FEATURED
🍂 Maple Grove Fall Festival | Town Green | Maple Grove | 10/24 | More
Hay bales, a pie contest and local bands on the gazebo stage all afternoon.
🤠 Western Swing Dance Night | Lantern Hall | Kettle Creek | 10/24 | More
Free two-step lesson first, then a live swing band until late.

(Town and businesses are made up for illustration.)

What's in the download

newsletter-issue-builder/SKILL.mdThe playbook Claude reads

newsletter-issue-builder/examples/worked-example.mdA full sample run

newsletter-issue-builder/references/quality-checks.mdPass or fail checks

newsletter-issue-builder/templates/operator-worksheet.mdFill-in worksheet

New to skills? Here is how to add one to Claude in about three minutes.

Rather have it done for you?

Turns a week of local news into one edited issue.

lightbreak builds this issue for you every week, in your voice, in under 15 minutes.

See lightbreak

Questions

What if I don't run every section, like Jobs or Featured Home?

Tell Claude which sections you skip. It removes them, keeps the rest in house order, and spreads their points across the remaining sections so the score still runs out of 10.

Will it make things up to fill the issue?

No. Every item needs a source page that proves its town, date and facts. Anything Claude cannot confirm is cut or marked [VERIFY], and short sections are reported as shortfalls instead of padded.

Why does it skip crime and tragedy?

The format is built to be the neighbor who tells readers what is worth knowing, not a paper of record. Upbeat, useful local news is what readers open these issues for, so crime, fatalities, macro doom and partisan fights are banned by design.