Friday open thread: news media subscriptions

[dolorosa_12]

It's the end of another working week, and that means it's time for a new open thread prompt. I was inspired this time by a series of 'Friday 5' questions that I saw several Dreamwidth friends answering last week — feel free to answer all five questions, or just use the spirit of all five in a more general way:

Talk about your engagement with news media, past and present.



1. Did the house where you grew up have a newspaper delivered regularly?

Yes, very much so. Both my parents were journalists, and my father was a political journalist for the vast majority of his working life, so having a regular stream of daily political news was crucial to his job. He used to get print copies of virtually every Australian broadsheet newspaper, which were delivered to our house in a massive roll, wrapped tightly in clingfilm, every morning. He would then spread these out across the whole table, reading the political and opinion sections, with a glass of strong black coffee at his elbow, and the radio blaring at full volume playing one of the news-based ABC stations. On weekends, this cacophony was supplemented with the morning political TV interview shows.

2. Have you ever subscribed to an actual print newspaper?

When I was a teenager and in my early twenties, I wrote book reviews and features articles for the broadsheet newspaper of my hometown, and I worked as a subeditor for this paper for two years after I graduated from my undergrad degree. During those years, employees of the paper got free copies delivered to their houses every day, including weekends, so technically I had a print newspaper subscription. That's the only time I've done so, although I avidly read the newspapers that my parents subscribed to, without paying for them myself.

3. When was the most recent time you physically picked up and read a newspaper?

I flicked through this week's issue of the (free, delivered through our letterbox every week) local 'newspaper' (sarcastic quote marks very much deserved), but it's hardly worthy of the name — a mixture of advertorial masquerading as news, local Conservative councillors presenting their own take on local politics as if it is unbiased news reporting, and (the highlight for Matthias and me, read with much hilarity) the 'Soham News' section which appears to just be a local woman reporting on all the bingo and raffle nights she attends each week.

4. Do you pay for news online now?

I have a subscription via Patreon to the Kyiv Independent, plus a number of other independent Ukrainian media outlets. I also donate regularly to Byline Times, and have subscriptions via either Substack or Patreon with a handful of freelance journalists and commentators (although obviously this is opinion writing rather than news reporting). Via institutional subscriptions, I have access to a substantial number of other media outlets (mainly British and American), although that's obviously my employer paying, not me.

5. Do you have any saved newspaper clippings?

I have a copy of every article I ever wrote during the thirteen or so years I worked as a book reviewer. I'm slowly transferring them to my dolorosa12 longform blog, but the project has stalled due to lack of time on my part. When I was an undergrad I also used to cut out newspaper articles of stories and opinion pieces that seemed very important at the time, but I fell out of the habit after I stopped living in a household that got print newspapers delivered.


Honestly, looking at everything I've written behind the cut, I think my relationship with the news was a lot healthier back when I engaged with everything in print, in a circumscribed manner, even though a) I'm the daughter of two journalists, and lived in a house in which political news reporting was literally spread out across the breakfast table every morning and b) I came of age during the 'global war on terror' era (9/11 happened when I was 16) and my entire early adulthood felt like one long raging fury about American foreign policy and its repercussions and reverberations in Australian politics.

Comments

[nerakrose]

I don't think my family ever subscribed to a newspaper, I think it just never was within our budget so not a priority. I could be wrong, as a child I wasn't interested in newspapers so I don't know if maybe my parents subscribed to a paper at that time. once we moved to Denmark, though, it definitely was not within our budget. I used to read the free newspaper that was distributed on train stations every morning when I commuted to school (it was called metroxpress I think). I don't know about the quality of it, from what I recall it was mostly reprints from ritzau (the source always cited at the bottom of each short article), but it was better than nothing.

whenever I think about newspapers there's one moment from high school that is like burned into my mind for reasons that will become clear. high school was a low point for my family money wise as my mum was receiving benefits and going to school (a condition for receiving the benefits) and her husband was working as much as was legally possible - he was a truck driver - to make ends meet. we couldn't always afford to pay certain bills on time and one time we didn't even have internet for a month because the provider had shut it off until the bill was paid, that sort of thing.

well, one day in Danish class in high school, in my first or second year so I would've been 18-19 and my classmates 16-17, we were discussing some text or other, I don't remember what it was, only that the main characters were poor and there was a line in there about affording newspapers. one of my classmates, one of few very well off kids in the area (his dad owned some local business), definitely at the upper end of the middle class scale that most everyone else in my class was part of, made a comment about how it was ridiculous that the characters in the story couldn't afford a newspaper. I do that thing I usually do when I'm about to start shit and don't know I'm about to start shit, and look directly at him with a frown and say 'plenty of people can't afford a newspaper subscription. why would they prioritise that if they're struggling to afford milk for their child?' (as per the story.) and he in typical teenage privileged boy fashion scoffs at the idea, at which point I add, that my own family don't have a newspaper subscription because we can't afford it and add that we can't always afford internet either, and we aren't about to get a newspaper subscription just because if that means we can't afford something essential in its place. which he doesn't get ('everybody can afford a newspaper!' dude couldn't even tell me how much a newspaper subscription cost when I asked him), and the whole thing devolves into a full blown argument where I explain to him in very strong terms that newspaper subscriptions are a luxury to some and that if he doesn't understand that other people may have different life experiences and simply have different starting points for participating in society in the first place, then he just isn't mature enough to participate in this conversation. at which point the teacher - who had let this unfold because this particular teacher loved chaos - stepped in. the main reason why this argument is burned into my mind is because at one point this boy straight up says, with this arrogant look on this face, that then poor people just shouldn't have that many children (he was an only child) and that they should get better jobs if they want to afford newspapers (still not understanding that they don't necessarily WANT the newspaper, but that the newspaper in the story represented something more (privilege! it represented privilege! and this boy, privileged as he was, just didn't get it!), and that it's not a matter of wanting but a matter of surviving). that was the point at which I lost my cool entirely. it was also, for better or worse, the first time I really understood that privileged people just do not live in the same world as I do.

I have had a newspaper subscription a few times, but not print - digital only, because it was was what I could afford. to the same paper every time, on-off, a Danish left wing paper that did good long form pieces (imo) and had a good culture section, by which I mean mostly book reviews (book reviews in newspapers seem to have now been mostly killed off, alas). the student dormitory I lived in during undergrad did have a print newspaper subscription - a different left wing paper - that we all pitched in for, so I did technically have that, the one time, but I don't count it. I did read it though, every day.

I don't currently have a newspaper subscription and haven't had one since I moved to the UK - I cancelled my subscription just before I moved, and haven't prioritised getting a new one since. I mostly read The Guardian online when I was in the UK, given that it is free, and for Denmark I get my news from DR (dr.dk), which being the equivalent of the BBC is free also. I still read the Guardian now and then. when I see a free newspaper on the train, I still reflexively pick it up and read it. I don't know when or if I'll get a newspaper subscription again (whether digital or print) as I just can't prioritise one atm. I also need to work out which paper to subscribe to if I do, as there are a few more options now, including new (small) independent presses that I might like to support instead of or as well as the established papers, depending on where they lean politically. I would like a print subscription next time I get one because I just focus and retain the news better in the print. getting news digitally has its pros and cons, atm I'm inclined to think a con is that it's so easy to keep clicking links and wind up with fourteen tabs relating to the same story and just drowning in it. on the other hand, that means more perspectives and angles on the same story vs getting only the one article in one printed paper.

[dolorosa_12]

Oh wow, that boy from your school was awful, and so out of line! You're absolutely right that privileged people just live in a different world (source: I come from a wealthy upper middle class background). I had some absolutely glaring blind spots as a teenager, although thankfully not relating to poverty, due to my mother's and grandmother's family history and the childhood experiences that they told me about. I can still remember in excruciating detail some moments when classmates punctured my clueless ignorance, although at least in my case I never doubled down when challenged in this way, but rather rethought my worldview on those specific issues.

I pay for news subscriptions because I'm financially able to do so, and because my background as the daughter of two journalists just absolutely drummed into me the notion that news, opinion and current affairs journalism is a public service and should be paid for, but this is absolutely a luxury and making use of whatever non-subscription media is out there to stay informed is of course perfectly fine, especially when finances are really tight.

getting news digitally has its pros and cons, atm I'm inclined to think a con is that it's so easy to keep clicking links and wind up with fourteen tabs relating to the same story and just drowning in it. on the other hand, that means more perspectives and angles on the same story vs getting only the one article in one printed paper.

I agree entirely.

[trepkos]

My grandfather used to get quite a few - mostly right wing - newspapers, but despite the fact that as an 11 or 12 year old, I would read through his week's Daily Mail at the weekend, I still grew up a raging leftie. I get the local paper every day now; though it's mostly crap, there are some meetings and other things that I get informed about. Also, I read the obits to find out whether any of my enemies have bought it. I save clippings of any letters I get published, and articles about any friends.

[dolorosa_12]

Well done on avoiding the influence of a childhood steeped in right-wing tabloid newspapers!

I quite like local newspapers, even though they're so hollowed out these days. As you say, how else would you find out about really local stuff — it's not as if a national newspaper is going to report on town council meetings or obituaries of non-famous people.

[meteordust]

I grew up with my family always buying the newspapers, both Chinese and English. It was only when I was older that we actually subscribed for delivery, I think because of the student discount? When I was a kid, 90% of my interest in the newspaper was because of the comics liftout and the TV guide. But it got me into the habit. That was what you did: read the morning paper, and watch the evening news.

Even though most of my news these days is from the ABC news website, I still subscribe to the print version of the weekend newspaper. I guess I vaguely feel like it's my contribution to supporting journalism? And it's kind of nice to read through all the different sections at leisure. The print subscription also gives access to the digital subscription.

We used to get the free community newspapers delivered too, but they're increasing hard to find print copies of. And on the other hand, free conservative newspapers like The Epoch Times are radicalising people I know, and they're everywhere.

[dolorosa_12]

As the daughter of two former ABC journalists, sincere thanks for your engagement with ABC material and subscription to the newspaper. It's been absolutely drummed into me that journalism should be paid for, and, culturally, if we move away from treating it as something that costs money, all that happens is that the reliable, quality, in-depth journalism withers away, and crap like the Epoch Times fills the void.

[darkmarcy]

What a great subject!

When I was a kid, we had a subscription to the bigger town's newspaper (100km South), because my grandma who lived next door got the local newspaper delivered. Nowadays I subscribe to the local paper, which is under the same company as the Bigger Town'n paper and they mostly have same longform features and news. The local weekly freebie newspaper is of high quality (voted second best freebie paper in the country!) and I can learn things from it that the bigger titles don't deem worthy of publishing, mostly small time local events (like closing or opening of a store, how the library's renovation is going, interviews with local creatives etc.) that are relevant to me. The weekly freebie also has a column for the library, where librarians can freely recommend something! I like writing those, I have had four published (fifth was in a Christmas week online only edition).

I remember when the newspaper came for 5 or 6 days a week, nowadays it's just Mon/Wed/Fri :/ The digital edition comes out daily but I prefer the calm morning moments with breakfast, reading things from paper. I have a digital subscription too but I mostly use it to check something if I'm not home. The country's biggest newspaper, let's call it the Capital Daily, still comes out 7 days a week, even though it has gotten thinner and lost a legendary weekend supplement (that was a Buzzfeed-like web version for a while). There are still book and culture reviews in all the aforementioned, but less than in my childhood.

I actually just recently subscribed to an online only news site, and have been considering another which publishes long-form articles. I have read some of those articles for free from the eLibrary, and some have been printed into pamphlets. I want to support well-made clickbait-free journalism.

There are two daily (trashy) tabloids in the country, with big and popular online presences, but even they have started putting bigger stories behind a paywall (most relationship and sex related ones, hehe). I sometimes see a paper version in a pizzeria and have a look. They have gotten rid of the Page 3 Girls but interviews with beauty contestants and sexy celebrities are still a staple. But they are still tamer than the UK tabloids!

When travelling I buy The Guardian/Dundee Courier/The Scotsman, and do a temporary address change so mum gets my paper when I am away. At home I fold my old newspapers into bio waste bags :)

[dolorosa_12]

I really loved learning about the media landscape of your country — that was fascinating to read!

I don't know what it's like where you are, but the decrease in features writing (book reviews and so on) has been massive in the past 10-15 years. The reason why I stopped working as a book reviewer (after having done so for the same paper for over ten years) was that — as a cost-saving measure — all the newspapers owned by this media outlet (which was basically all non-Rupert Murdoch-owned papers in Australia) fired their in-house features editors and writers, and had all features editing done centrally. Although as a freelancer I could have kept writing for them, the idea of being edited by a woman younger than me (and I was 26 at the time) who had no experience in literary editing, no local knowledge of either the cultural scene in the city where this paper was based, and no in-depth knowledge of Australian or global publishing, and whose sole journalistic output up to that point had been writing the social pages (i.e. photos of glamorous people at parties) for a newspaper on the other side of the country did not fill me with confidence.

When people stopped treating journalism as something that needed to be paid for, the money just drained away, and the result is hollowed-out media organisations.