Which paywall news do you recommend?

[Dear_Prudence]

Which few paywalled news sources do you recommend a DUer subscribe to? None of us has the time and money for the Daily Beast, Mother Jones, the New York Times, The Atlantic, Wired, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, The Boston Globe, The Guardian, USA Today, Reuters, AND all the rest of the paywalled publications. (Notes: I know I left out some excellent ones. I only listed The New Yorker so you might think I get their jokes; I don't.)

[Midnight Writer]

1. There is an online service called Magzter, which bills itself as The Netflix of Magazines.

Pay an annual fee (normally $100, but often offered at 3 years for $100) and get access to thousands of magazines in electronic format.

Through it (I pay $2.75 a month) I get Mother Jones, The Atlantic, The Guardian, the New Yorker, and many more, in areas such as history, music, entertainment, archeology, and other specialties.

You also get back issues for most of them. For a magazine junkie like myself, it is a stupendous deal.

[Dear_Prudence]

3. Thank you!

I am still interested in which ones folks find worth reading. But I could do my own research with such a broad subscription.

[msongs]

2. I recommend people stop posting links to paywalls and subscription required sites. does that

count?

[Dear_Prudence]

5. Counts!

There are some sites that I check daily for headlines, even though I can't enter. So not all my dead-ends are due to trying to read DU posts. But, yes, like Google maps on-the-fritz, it is frustrating to be directed into a dead-end.

[hlthe2b]

4. Well, they will ALL piss you off from time to time, so that should be a given...

I have a journalist friend who has access to everything so they will often share articles they know I would be interested in from countless numbers of US and English-language international publications. And if I see something I want to read that is not offered up as a "gift" article here, I can ask her to share. She has a comprehensive subscription system targeted to journalists that takes her no time to access and send on...Nice... I only wish we could all access that.

That said, I do maintain a WAPO and Denver Post digital-only subscription. I believe in digitally subscribing to at least one national newspaper and a local one if you can.

[Dear_Prudence]

6. Thanks

I have family in Denver, LA, and Chicago. I often want the latest on weather, not just the news.

[LearnedHand]

7. weather.gov for absolutely the best no-ads weather

[msongs]

10. yes 100% thats where most weather sites get their stuff anyway nt

[LearnedHand]

12. Right?

Plus you skip the ads and data hovering.

[LearnedHand]

8. The Guardian, your local library

The Guardian just doubled their digital-only subscription price but I just suck it up and pay. I appreciate their reporting so much and I'm glad to support them.

Your library card will get you all the digital newspapers and magazines you could want, but that doesn't mean running down to your branch. They will either offer a news reader app (mine offers PressReader) or you can pull newspapers and magazines up in a browser or their ebook app.

NB. Don't tell anyone about the library thing. So far, it's the greatest (and mostly undiscovered) treasure for digital materials. I estimate my library saved me $2500 in books alone last year.

[Dear_Prudence]

9. Wow!

I did not know about the library benefit. I have read a few Repug tell-alls, but I wait in line for the library e-book so I don't reward their cashing in on unethical actions.

[LearnedHand]

11. A number of libraries offer non-resident cards

For a yearly fee. I subscribe to a library in VA (not my home) for $27/yr, and I may add the Houston Public Library for about $40/yr. Even if I added the HPL I would be paying less than for Kindle Unlimited, plus it supports libraries (always a plus).

Along with my local library, this vastly increases my chances of finding the books I want and getting in the shortest line. Libby does that automatically when you load multiple libraries to it. Here are some articles about where to get non-resident library cards:

https://www.9thstreetbooks.com/how-to-get-a-library-card-online/#3-libraries-offering-library-cards-online-for-non-residents

https://bookriot.com/out-of-state-library-cards/

[Dear_Prudence]

13. Good information

Sometimes the lines are really long, so this very valuable information. Thank you.

[LearnedHand]

14. Also, free WaPo if you have .gov or .mil email address

This is a basic digital subscription with ads, but it's still a tremendous benefit. Here's the help article describing how to set it up:

https://helpcenter.washingtonpost.com/hc/en-us/articles/115007248227-Start-a-free-subscription-with-a-valid-gov-or-mil-email-address

Edit: So sorry. They USED to offer this to .edu. I didn't know it changed.

[Dear_Prudence]

15. Missing work library

Tricky, aren't they? I don't miss much about working, but as a government contractor I had lots of access to periodicals. So, no more .gov email for me! I have gotten lots of help here though so thank you all so much!

[Dear_Prudence]

16. Duplicate

[Ptah]

17. None.

[Dear_Prudence]

18. Gotcha. nt

[BlueKota]

19. On Washington Post

If you haven't subscribed previously they sometimes offer one of those try us for free or cut rate, for a few weeks. I did
a free trial two years ago. When the trial period ended I clicked to renew and they had a price listed I really couldn't afford. So I clicked end my subscription. It came up we don't want you to go so how about $19.99 for a year instead. Same thing happened when I went to renew this year.

Also I have found on streaming services if you cancel them, you will often receive emails a couple of months later offering you a lower rate for a short period of time, or sometimes longer. Spectrum paid for Peacock for subscribers in our area for a year. Then they dropped that and I got an email from Peacock a few months ago saying we miss you, how does $19.99 for a year sound.

Doesn't always work though. I dumped Spectrum TV about six months ago and haven't heard a peep from them. Then they wonder why people are dropping them. It was much better when it was Time Warner.

[Dear_Prudence]

20. Good strategy

We have all had to become strategists in this new media environment. Thank you for sharing what you have learned. I have Roku with lots of free streaming channels and a few paid subscriptions. What I need an app to keep track of what streaming service I was on when I was watching the show that I can't remember the name of, but it has that actress, what's her name in it.

[BlueKota]

21. Or where you left off in the middle of shows that

have serial storylines. You often don't have time to re-watch past episodes if the reduced price is only for a short time frame. When I was younger and wasn't post viral meningitis it wouldn't have been that big of an issue because I used to have excellent recall skills. Not anymore. 🤣