If imitation is the highest form of flattery, new Australian morning digest The Squiz certainly has high praise for snappy US digest theSkimm.

From the pitch:

“Quite simply, we want to give busy people a quick and easy way to keep up with the news … When we sit down to write Squiz Today we have our time-poor, information-hungry girlfriends in mind. The Squiz is a big shout out to her.”

-The Squiz

“Reading the news is time consuming; Wanting to read the news is a hobby; lastly, not everyone has the time or interest. theSkimm solves all that and makes it easier to be smarter.”

-The Skimm

… To the sassy lady in the logo:

… to the format of the newsletters, which start with a quote:

 

They continue with an aggregation of tops news stories of the day, casually narrated and punctuated with conversational headlines.

Both newsletters also have loyalty clubs for subscribers who refer friends to the daily email. The Squiz has a “Squiz Squad”, and theSkimm has “Skimm’bassadors”.

The Squiz has been publishing for a week, and in a blog post launching the service last week, founder Claire Kimball said there had been nothing to lose in starting the venture — her first since leaving her role in corporate communications for Woolworths.

“Creating The Squiz has been a real joy. After a career of being paid to be a news junkie, The Squiz is the happy collision of my personal interests with a service I think might be useful to people, and particularly busy women,” she wrote.

Kimball responded to Crikey’s request for comment after deadline, saying The Squiz offered something not yet found on the Australian market.

“theSkimm is an incredibly successful business that we admire, but there’s also other like Axios, The Hive by Vanity Fair, and so many other email and blogs we enjoy,” Kimball said. “There isn’t anything like The Squiz in the Australian market and it is tailored for an Aussie audience.” — Emily Watkins