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Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?

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Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?

#181

Post by underbrush »

crazygringo wrote: post #162

I see this claim in nearly every HN thread about the Economist -- that it's declined in quality. And it baffles me because, having read it for 20+ years and gone back for research to read plenty of articles from further back... I just don't see it at all. It's the same market-based, socially progressive, pragmatic international strongly opinionated journalism it's always been. Sometimes I think the way it characteriz…

From what I have seen it hasn't been getting much worse. Other than just bounce rate I think far more people are becoming aware that reality is different from The Economist "a thousand words by Friday" writing. Hong Kong being one example.

Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?

#182

Post by mariodiana »

crazygringo wrote: post #162

I see this claim in nearly every HN thread about the Economist -- that it's declined in quality. And it baffles me because, having read it for 20+ years and gone back for research to read plenty of articles from further back... I just don't see it at all. It's the same market-based, socially progressive, pragmatic international strongly opinionated journalism it's always been. Sometimes I think the way it characteriz…

I used to read it years ago when it was run by the editor who promoted ending every article with a witticism. I missed that when they killed it off and stopped reading it around that time. Did they ever bring it back?

Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?

#183

Post by 2OEH8eoCRo0 »

maybelsyrup wrote: post #166
2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #79

Could you give examples of how quality has declined? I'm scared if a rag like Jacobin is in the running. When people say that the quality of a publication has declined they often mean they disagree with things that are published. Many also say that they seek out blogs and other sources that I assume they agree with. I read these publications because I often disagree with their opinion pieces. It's a value add. Why wo…

> When people say that the quality of a publication has declined they often mean they disagree with things that are published. > a rag like Jacobin

Jacobin often uses flame bait writing style which I don't like even if it's something that I agree with. It's insulting to the reader.

Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?

#184

Post by bmj »

civilized wrote: post #94
bmj wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a difference in the online content of the Atlantic v. the print magazine. The print magazine still has some high quality content.

Don't they ultimately publish the same stuff in both? I would definitely appreciate a quality/triviality filter though, maybe the print is the only way to get it.

No, there is a lot of online-only content. I believe there's a daily email with new content, and often that content is quite weak compared to what's in the print version.

Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?

#185

Post by UncleSlacky »

Aromasin wrote: post #70
jimbobthemighty wrote: post #46

Have a look at: https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome Any page that needs to be bypassed is worthy of a glance; limiting yourself to just one source runs the risk of 'rose tinted glasses' syndrome.

Excellent, thanks for this. If I had the funds, I'd read everything from Adweek to Zeit Online, but paywalls mean I can only pick one or two.

There's also https://12ft.io/ if that helps.

Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?

#186

Post by senko »

heywherelogingo wrote: post #175
crazygringo wrote: post #162

I see this claim in nearly every HN thread about the Economist -- that it's declined in quality. And it baffles me because, having read it for 20+ years and gone back for research to read plenty of articles from further back... I just don't see it at all. It's the same market-based, socially progressive, pragmatic international strongly opinionated journalism it's always been. Sometimes I think the way it characteriz…

It's not you, it's everyone else?

FWIW, I agree with parent.

In areas where I have some knowledge (tech), I find The Economist has reasonably accurate (if perhaps simplified, for the wider audience) grasp of things. I trust that the same holds for the other areas.

Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?

#187

Post by tclancy »

wahnfrieden wrote: post #159

Jacobin is directionally correct but I'd love to hear of any better/less problematic publications

My only problem with Jacobin so far (I too, like the OP, quit The Economist after a decade or so of reading, mainly because my politics had drifted even further left) is the redesign has made it feel like someone printed out a Tumblr from the 2000s. Finding an article and being able to focus on it is near impossible.

Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?

#188

Post by chipotle_coyote »

Aromasin wrote: post #107
2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #79

Could you give examples of how quality has declined? I'm scared if a rag like Jacobin is in the running. When people say that the quality of a publication has declined they often mean they disagree with things that are published. Many also say that they seek out blogs and other sources that I assume they agree with. I read these publications because I often disagree with their opinion pieces. It's a value add. Why wo…

I've discussed how I think the quality has decline elsewhere in the thread, but in short, they flip-flop so as to be on the "correct" side of the conversation too often instead of admitting fault, their UK/EU commentary has been of such a low quality I could find it in a tabloid newspaper if I wanted, and their general Anglo-centric view of the world is not valuable to me explicitly for the reason you describe; I'm B…

> I've had a lot of people say [Jacobin is] a rag, but not explain how. Is it because it's poor journalism, or is it because it's socialist?

Anecdotally, I'm in sympathy with a lot of Jacobin's political viewpoints (even though I'm not as anti-capitalist, or at least anti-market, as they seem to be), but I have a lot of trouble really clicking with their style. They're far more opinion-driven than The Economist or even The Atlantic, and there's what I can only describe as a sneering subtext to much of the work by them I've been pointed to, e.g., "this premise is plainly true to anyone who isn't stupid and/or evil", when I'm sort of mentally raising my hand and going "wait, you are skipping work you really need to dedicate at least a few paragraphs to." It's the leftist version of the feeling I got reading C.S. Lewis decades ago.

Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?

#189

Post by ssivark »

Had you considered that this might be a macro problem? The last several decades had a stable narrative with special places for certain institutions. With the narrative world order unwinding, institutions are having a hard time seeming authoritative (despite desperate attempts) because they cannot figure out the “right” new narratives. If this diagnosis is correct, you are unlikely to find much satisfaction from shifting sources — it’s the end of an era, and a whiplash from the last few decades of “over stability” ignoring several distinct changes and having them pile up and bubble out all at once.

Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to The Economist?

#190

Post by 2OEH8eoCRo0 »

chipotle_coyote wrote: post #188
Aromasin wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've discussed how I think the quality has decline elsewhere in the thread, but in short, they flip-flop so as to be on the "correct" side of the conversation too often instead of admitting fault, their UK/EU commentary has been of such a low quality I could find it in a tabloid newspaper if I wanted, and their general Anglo-centric view of the world is not valuable to me explicitly for the reason you describe; I'm B…

> I've had a lot of people say [Jacobin is] a rag, but not explain how. Is it because it's poor journalism, or is it because it's socialist? Anecdotally, I'm in sympathy with a lot of Jacobin's political viewpoints (even though I'm not as anti-capitalist, or at least anti-market, as they seem to be), but I have a lot of trouble really clicking with their style. They're far more opinion-driven than The Economist or ev…

> "this premise is plainly true to anyone who isn't stupid and/or evil"

You are dead on. I often sympathize and appreciate the core of their message but the presentation is off putting, to me anyway.

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