I enjoy the Economist (haven't noticed any change in quality), and if I had time for a second source I would probably be leaning towards the New Statesman. I somewhat foolishly subscribed to the New European after learning about it on "The Rest is Politics" (podcast with Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell); it is unashamedly far-left and mostly just full of rants - so I wouldn't recommend that.
Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?
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Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?
#12What narrative manipulation have you seen from The Economist? I haven’t noticed it so perhaps I am being manipulated! I’d love to hear your insight!
The Economist has always, since its foundation, been capital-L Liberal. That's the lens through which everything is written.
Knowing that informs you about the selection of topics they cover and the angles they will take. It doesn't make it bad - I read it for years although gave up mid-2010s - but it can be quite predictable. It's still capable of producing very high quality and thoughtful writing, which makes it more annoying when they choose not to.
Recommendation: maybe the FT?
Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?
#13FT is good and seems to be getting better.
Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?
#14I go through cycles with the Economist, months when I can't stand it, and months when I read most pieces. Think it is me and the Economist. That said, I have not found any consistently better alternative in English or any of the other languages, so guess I am a lifer. But, I don't read pieces on current news in places I know well. My favorite section is letters to the editor. Like every time there is a piece on Singapore, the high commissioner will complain in the next issue.
Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?
#15I was in a similar place, an Economist subscriber, that stopped ~5yrs ago due to a decrease in writing quality. I switched to:
Financial Times - lead newspaper into Wirecard scandal
Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German) - famed for Panama Papers investigation
I complement it with readings from:
IEEE Spectrum (Science & Tech)
The Markup (Society)
Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?
#16What narrative manipulation have you seen from The Economist? I haven’t noticed it so perhaps I am being manipulated! I’d love to hear your insight!
From what I've casually noticed, in recent years they declared the EU dead at least 4 or 5 times and the bias towards some kind of Liberal US/UK lead/controlled World is clear. They are liberal and anglo, so of course the bias is there ( also smug, but that's pretty much since their beginnings) , but they try to pass their views as fact, meaning: "There's chat going around, this is what the reality is and will be.."
They ( as many others ), didn't view Ukraine fighting back and Western help as a good thing, Ukraine capitulation was "the right thing to happen" because for them Russia controlling Ukraine was a "fact of life". All this while their authors try to project an image of unmatched economic prowess but also rock-solid morals..
Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?
#17Always been a fan of Harper's for a more left/artistic perspective.
Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?
#18The Spectator has - generally high quality writing - a quirky (but data driven) approach - a longer history than any other magazine - a UK focus - a right wing bent, but with plenty of left wing ( or apolitical) writers for balance. Might be a solution? I gave up on the Economist after 20years 20 years ago, for much the same reasons you state!
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/what-brexit-looks-like/
Just objectively that has turned out to be complete nonsense...
Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?
#19What narrative manipulation have you seen from The Economist? I haven’t noticed it so perhaps I am being manipulated! I’d love to hear your insight!
The Economist has always, since its foundation, been capital-L Liberal. That's the lens through which everything is written. Knowing that informs you about the selection of topics they cover and the angles they will take. It doesn't make it bad - I read it for years although gave up mid-2010s - but it can be quite predictable. It's still capable of producing very high quality and thoughtful writing, which makes it mo…
I’m very aware of political and economic lens of The Economist as I’ve been a subscriber for over two decades.
I haven’t noticed a change other than a bit of a shift leftwards since Zanny became editor-in-chief, but I don’t mind one bit, as they haven’t lost the writers that promote classical liberalism, just added a bit of an internal critique of some aspects of academic economics.
But I’m very open to the idea that I’m missing something… especially since I’m such a fanboy!
Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?
#20All of them have sunken to clickbait articles and titles IMO - case in point: https://www.ft.com/content/5a8d439b-da0f-41c0-9e6b-e857a75c2... (although the article itself is alright, even if quite brief).
I think you're better off just getting access to specific long read articles when they're released.