Spencer Howson has joined the Brisbane Times team. Credit:Robert Shakespeare Written in Spencer's conversational style, and sent at 8.30am each weekday, there will also be plenty of the interesting Brisbane snippets that made him the city's number one breakfast radio presenter. Having finished presenting breakfast for ABC in 2016 after 11 consecutive years, Spencer said his new job was "the best of both worlds". He now gets to spend more time with his wife, Nikki, and 16-year-old son Jack, set his alarm for 5am instead of 3.20am and work from home. Spencer said he took several months off to consider his future, but could not fathom leaving his beloved Brisbane, where he has lived for the last 36 years.

An example of Spencer Howson's new daily news email, The Gateway. "I realised how much I enjoyed waking Brisbane up and filling people's minds with what they need to know," he said. "I will die in Brisbane. I absolutely love it to pieces." Spencer Howson is looking forward to his 'sleep in' of 5am now that he's no longer on breakfast radio. Spencer said he would spend several hours perusing various news outlets each morning, in order to guide subscribers to the must-read stories of the day.

"It's not going to be in academic or broadsheet writing style, it's written using the spoken word and radio style, I think that makes it very easy to read," he said. I will die in Brisbane. I absolutely love it to pieces Spencer Howson "This is the one email that will open your eyes to everything you need to know. "It will be my sense of the world, my voice, the Spencer that everyone knows." Brisbane Times editor Danielle Cronin said Spencer was a natural choice because of his authentic, engaging personality, sound news judgement – and the fact he is synonymous with mornings in Brisbane.

"For so many years, Spencer has been great company at the start of every work day ensuring Brisbane is informed and entertained," Ms Cronin said. "We're thrilled to bring Spencer back to the morning slot albeit at a more civilised hour and in a fresh format." Ms Cronin said email newsletters were, like podcasts, enjoying a digital resurgence. "Email got overshadowed a bit by social media, but a daily email is actually a really effective way of getting a snapshot of all the news at a specific time, a bit like maybe a newspaper in days gone by," she said. "Online news is fast changing all the time, but some people don't want that relentless pace – they just want a summary of what's the most important news around this morning."

Spencer's remit to give readers the best of the news means giving credit where credit is due. "Unlike many emails, it won't just be a summary of our site's headlines – we're actively encouraging him to point out to other news sites when they have a great story," said Ms Cronin. "Some people might think it's unusual to point to our competitors but our view is to put the reader first. Very few Queenslanders read everything out of Brisbane Times, The Courier Mail, ABC, The Australian Financial Review, The Australian, The Guardian, and others. Normal people just don't have time for all that – so our goal is to curate the best of it all for you." Mr Howson said he loved the freedom the Brisbane Times had given him in allowing stories from rival news organisations to be included. "It means I can be authentic and honest in what stories I'm sharing," he said.

As well as important national and world stories, there will also be a strong focus on local content. "Spencer's so well connected in this city, and that's a large part of his appeal," Ms Cronin said. Sign up for Spencer Howson's daily email The Gateway here.