Capitol Pulse Breakdown: Newsletters & Sites
D.C. is the land of newsletters. Playbook, Punchbowl, Axios… AM this, PM that. Every day brings another ‘must-read’ to our inboxes. Here at CNCT, we swore we’d never add to the pile. And yet, here you are reading what we said we’d never do. But, as the D.C. newsletter count rises, so does the space for content consumption.
We all know that, at this point, CNCT is your favorite newsletter, duh… But, if newsletters are the currency of D.C., which news site holds the most political capital? We asked staffers to rank their go-tos, and the results say a lot about party loyalty, generational divides, and maybe even who you should date.
➡️ So let’s jump in…
Punchbowl and Playbook Achieve Heavyweight Status 💪
Let’s start with the question that comes with the most bragging rights.
“Which newsletter do you read the most on a daily or weekly basis?” We gave staffers the choice of…
Punchbowl News – 40%
Politico Playbook – 40%
The Hill AM Report – 13%
Axios AM – 7%
At first glance, nothing shocking—Playbook and Punchbowl continue to duke it out for the top newsletter to start your mornings with. Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman certainly know how to enrapture an audience, regardless of the company name behind them. But the real story reveals itself in the details: The GOP prefers Punchbowl and the Dems prefer Playbook. Women liked Playbook, and men liked Punchbowl.
To put it simply: Republicans favor Punchbowl 49% to 33%, and Democrats favor Playbook 47% to 37% respectively.
This division got even messier when we looked at other categories like House v. Senate, Comms v. Policy, Under 30 v. Over 30. Basically, no two groups in D.C. could agree on their morning read, which tracks.
💕 One surprising area of bipartisan agreement? Democratic men (50%) and GOP women (60%) were the biggest supporters of Punchbowl. Should you all, like, date? P.S. we have data for that too.
Takeaway: Punchbowl is gaining steam as D.C.’s go-to newsletter—and the momentum is even clearer when you see the next question.
Punchbowl Wins Tiebreaker 🥇
When we asked staffers “What is your preferred news site?,” here’s what they said:
Punchbowl – 41%
Politico – 34%
The Hill – 17%
Axios – 8%
These results largely track with the newsletter question, but here Punchbowl pulls ahead, using this category as the tiebreaker to claim the top spot.
Partisan splits tell a different story. Democrats narrowly leaned Politico over Punchbowl (39% to 36%), with nearly one in five choosing The Hill as their go-to. Republicans still favored Punchbowl overall (45%), but their enthusiasm dipped compared to the newsletter question—roughly a quarter defected to The Hill or Axios.
The most eye-catching stat: among GOP junior policy staff, Punchbowl came in last (13%) while Politico dominated (38%). Yet at the senior level, the script flipped—55% of GOP senior policy staff chose Punchbowl.
👉 Takeaway: While Punchbowl cements itself as the Hill’s leading outlet, its weaker showing among younger GOP staff signals that the long-term race for loyalty is still wide open.
Punchbowl and The Hill Seen As Most Impartial
👑 And now for the crown every reporter secretly wants: moral superiority.
Every “nonpartisan” media organization may tout impartiality, but this is D.C.—we all see through the spin. So which outlet do staffers actually trust as the most fair? We asked:
“Which news company do you believe provides the most impartial reporting?”
Punchbowl – 43%
The Hill – 26%
Axios – 17%
Politico – 14%
The verdict was nearly unanimous: across party lines, genders, and job functions, staffers put Punchbowl at the top.
No surprise that GOP staffers rallied around Punchbowl, given what we saw in the newsletter breakdown. But here’s the twist—Democratic staffers still named Punchbowl and The Hill as the most impartial outlets, despite overwhelmingly reading Politico Playbook every morning. That disconnect says a lot, and we’d love to hear your theories.
The lone defectors? Senate staffers on both sides of the aisle. They gave The Hill the edge (42% to 38%) over Punchbowl.
Takeaway: Punchbowl isn’t just winning the inbox—it’s winning staffers’ trust as the most impartial outlet on the Hill...
In Conclusion
When we first shared these numbers in our newsletter and on LinkedIn, they sparked a lot of buzz, and dare we say controversy. On the Hill, what staffers read can make or break a business—and every outlet in D.C. is competing for that attention.
🫶 Huge thanks to all of you who participated in these polls. Your input helps us cut through the noise and spotlight which news companies truly keep Capitol Hill informed.