Handling Too Many News Subscriptions
In today's chaotic world, good journalism is more important than ever. Lately, we've been seeing too many of the biggest news outlets who could be relied upon to report on the news, resort to letting up to maintain access, or readership, or both. For those that continue to report despite an increasingly fascist and authoritarian administration in Washington, it's becoming even more important. I want to support them, but damn, it gets expensive fast.
There's often the thought when it comes to journalism nowadays that the good sources cost money while the bad sources are free. There are of course exceptions to this, but think of sites like The Economist or the Philadelphia Inquirer. They're both solid journalistic enterprises, but both are behind a paywall unless you buy a subscription. Sites like Fox News, Newsmax, and much of the other right-wing propoganda sites are free for all visitors, no subscription required for most features. For many, why pay for your local paper when you can just read Fox for free.
And I do want to be clear, journalists should get paid for their work. Their work is important and vital for an informed, democratic society. As one of my favorite journalists has put it, truth matters. At the same time, I, and most others have a limited budget and can't be constantly shelling out cash to every site, even if I believe in their mission and that they do good work.
Looking at my current subscriptions, I subscribe to:
- NPR (monthly donation)
- American Public Media (monthly donation)
- The Philadelphia Inquirer
- The Economist
- 404 Media
- Defector
- Molly Wood's Citation Needed
- FanGraphs
- Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy
Listing them, well, that's a lot. And I'm not trying to say I'm mad that I have to pay or donate for them, I'm not. But when looking at the costs associated with them as a whole, the costs add up. And there's more that I've considered in the past. I want to support them, I want to read their articles, but I have a hard time budgeting the additional money. I already can't keep up with all the news.
How do you handle all the different sites that require subscriptions?