Magazine/News Subscription

Off Topic
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So I’ve recently been thinking about subscribing to a news/international affairs magazine such as The Economist or Time Magazine. I find some of their content fascinating and really want to expand my knowledge base when it comes to current developments (more than just news articles).

The thing is, I know there are a variety of publications out there and I’m having trouble deciding which one to choose. Besides the aforementioned Economist and Times there are other alternatives like The Atlantic, The WSJ (a newspaper that is also on-line), Newsweek, Reader’s Digest and etc. Although some of these publications may not be mutually exclusive to an overly-informed man I’m just looking for one at this stage.

I prefer something that is relatively unbiased, interesting and well edited and has more of a business and economic focus. I really don’t give a shit about political analysis although I understand that politics, being a main-stay in our lives, is undoubtedly important enough to be covered in most serious publications (I’m just not interested in ones where politics makes up the bulk of the material).

At the end of the day, price is also a factor. If anyone knows a good online source (paid or free) then please feel free to share. But if you are or have been subscribed to some of the publications I am alluding to please chime it.

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If you’re looking for new sources, try Google News- news.google.com. It pulls in a articles from a variety of sources, so it may help you find new publications. It’s also customizable if you have a Google account.

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I’m a long-time subscriber to The Economist. I can wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who wants to expand their knowledge base, be intellectually stimulated and entertained. Something that I really appreciate about the magazine is that it’s NOT North American-centric. Sure, there are many columns and occasional issues devoted to the US economy, but there are many more that focus on Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. What I also appreciate is that the magazine is just so well-written and assumes that it’s readers are at least somewhat-educated. There are no bylines and the editors appear to enforce a uniform “voice” in articles.

Here is a brief statement on the Economist’s stance, from the Economist.com site:

“What, besides free trade and free markets, does The Economist believe in? “It is to the Radicals that The Economist still likes to think of itself as belonging. The extreme centre is the paper’s historical position.” That is as true today as when former Economist editor Geoffrey Crowther said it in 1955. The Economist considers itself the enemy of privilege, pomposity and predictability. It has backed conservatives such as Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. It has supported the Americans in Vietnam. But it has also endorsed Harold Wilson and Bill Clinton, and espoused a variety of liberal causes: opposing capital punishment from its earliest days, while favouring penal reform and decolonisation, as well as?more recently?gun control and gay marriage.”

One consideration is that a subscription is somewhat pricey and there really aren’t any of the steep discounts that one finds with Time, Newsweek and other news magazines:

12 weeks for just NZ$89, saving 38% on the cover price. Then you will be charged NZ$100 per quarter thereafter.
51 weeks for just NZ$390, saving 36% on the cover price.

Still, I recommend at least a short subscription, to see if it meets your expectations, or simply pick it up from your local news vendors for a few weeks prior to making a longer commitment.

4

Read the New York Times. It is the finest source of news in the world, and beautifully written to boot.

It’s the only paper I read.

And I work for a newspaper, so that’s saying something.

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I don’t like TIME as it seems to alternate covers each month where one is about the environment and the next issue is about the economy, then back to the environment and on and on. They always do the same type of semi-clever covers too where they talk about going green so they have a pic of an oil barrel and it’s tipped over and spilling but the oil is sprouting a fern or some shit.

Since I’m in Asia the economy issues always have some post-modern take on some Chinese propaganda poster but they stick an iPad in there to show that they’re talking about China’s emerging capitalist class.

I have a pic on mu computer of two issues that came out to prove my point, lemme find it.

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I have been getting Newsweek for a few years. In that time they have gone through two significant changes. The first change I think was for the better, not so.for the second (new head editor and even publisher I think). My wife and I both have commented we.so not feel any impulse to read it, I typically read all of it nearly cover-to-cover the day it came in the mail. I think the shift is to be more interesting to women, definitely did not work in my wife’s case.

Cliff notes: do not get Newsweek.

Advice, spend a few.months checking out the different magazines. Subscribe to the ones you want to read on the toilet. Read the other.online.

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[quote]cakewalk wrote:
I’m a long-time subscriber to The Economist. I can wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who wants to expand their knowledge base, be intellectually stimulated and entertained. Something that I really appreciate about the magazine is that it’s NOT North American-centric. Sure, there are many columns and occasional issues devoted to the US economy, but there are many more that focus on Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. What I also appreciate is that the magazine is just so well-written and assumes that it’s readers are at least somewhat-educated. There are no bylines and the editors appear to enforce a uniform “voice” in articles.

Here is a brief statement on the Economist’s stance, from the Economist.com site:

“What, besides free trade and free markets, does The Economist believe in? “It is to the Radicals that The Economist still likes to think of itself as belonging. The extreme centre is the paper’s historical position.” That is as true today as when former Economist editor Geoffrey Crowther said it in 1955. The Economist considers itself the enemy of privilege, pomposity and predictability. It has backed conservatives such as Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. It has supported the Americans in Vietnam. But it has also endorsed Harold Wilson and Bill Clinton, and espoused a variety of liberal causes: opposing capital punishment from its earliest days, while favouring penal reform and decolonisation, as well as?more recently?gun control and gay marriage.”

One consideration is that a subscription is somewhat pricey and there really aren’t any of the steep discounts that one finds with Time, Newsweek and other news magazines:

12 weeks for just NZ$89, saving 38% on the cover price. Then you will be charged NZ$100 per quarter thereafter.
51 weeks for just NZ$390, saving 36% on the cover price.

Still, I recommend at least a short subscription, to see if it meets your expectations, or simply pick it up from your local news vendors for a few weeks prior to making a longer commitment.[/quote]

Yeah definitely. The Economist is probably at the top of my list right now. I like what I’ve seen in the limited issues I’ve skimmed over. It’s a bit pricey but not surprising considering it’s a weekly publication.

[quote] FightingIrish26 wrote:

Read the New York Times. It is the finest source of news in the world, and beautifully written to boot.

It’s the only paper I read.

And I work for a newspaper, so that’s saying something. [/quote]

I don’t know if I’d subscribe to the NYT but I’ll have a look at their website. They’ve gotten a bit of flack recently for losing their market share but I understand what you mean. The NYT is probably the most recognisable paper in the world.

[quote] Nards wrote:

I don’t like TIME as it seems to alternate covers each month where one is about the environment and the next issue is about the economy, then back to the environment and on and on. They always do the same type of semi-clever covers too where they talk about going green so they have a pic of an oil barrel and it’s tipped over and spilling but the oil is sprouting a fern or some shit.

Since I’m in Asia the economy issues always have some post-modern take on some Chinese propaganda poster but they stick an iPad in there to show that they’re talking about China’s emerging capitalist class.

I have a pic on mu computer of two issues that came out to prove my point, lemme find it. [/quote]

China SMH lol. TIME seems al-right though, they have some awesome human interest stories.

Btw, I was thinking about learning some Mandarin over my break over here. How difficult would you say it is to pick it up and what’s the best way to learn it IYO?

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[quote]Gettnitdone wrote:

I don’t know if I’d subscribe to the NYT but I’ll have a look at their website. They’ve gotten a bit of flack recently for losing their market share but I understand what you mean. The NYT is probably the most recognisable paper in the world.
[/quote]

Market share don’t mean shit. We’re newspapers, EVERYONE is losing their market share and getting absolutely hammered.

Doesn’t change that it is far and away the greatest newspaper probably in the world.

And also, I get TIME and I really like it as well.

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[quote]Gettnitdone wrote:

Btw, I was thinking about learning some Mandarin over my break over here. How difficult would you say it is to pick it up and what’s the best way to learn it IYO?[/quote]

Well, you could come here and learn it as poorly as I do.

Otherwise I guess I’ve heard good things about Rossetta Stone.