My free access to the Washington Post expired. I hate paywalls, just hate them. What is your go-to source for news on the web that isn’t behind a paywall?
Yes, I’m well aware that reporters need to get paid, etc., but I’m not in a position to support them.
Keeping an eye on this because I\d love to know as well…
The bbc is generally considered a good unbiased source, because the British government is not even part of our political system. There are also very active discussion sites on placed like reddit - r/news or something and you definitely won’t miss anything considered newsworthy.
I use Google News (with access to a very large number of news venues) and the Guardian.
I want a good source of news as well.
The BBC is all very well, but the rolling news seems dominated by reporting on the posturing of UK politicians about Brexit. It has been this way for a couple of years now and it is utterly tedious. Few hard facts and conclusions, too much opinion, and commentary on what seems an endless poker game between very uninspiring politicians.
Between Brexit in the UK and Trumps antics in the US, news and reporting has grown tedious and predictable. I don’t want to pay for all that guff.
If only there were a website that curated the best stories from many sources and allowed me to choose the subject areas I am interested in, I would pay for that. The good stuff is hidden behind several different paywalls and I certainly don’t want to pay for all of them.
A free market in quality journalism? That would be an innovation for some enterprising company. Does the paywall model actually work? I have heard that only a few titles are profitable. Time for a change?
The BBC isn’t a government organisation. It’s an an independent trust. Granted, it depends on the charter (usually renewed every ten years) agreed with the government at the time, but there’d be hell to pay if its news operation were to be seen as merely a mouthpiece for whichever governing party.
I’m looking for a go-to main news source online as well.
ABC News which I used to read regularly has succumbed to Trump Resistance Fever, Fox is a crude right wing echo chamber and other typical sources have their own problems or are behind paywalls (we subscribe to two newspapers but I often can’t be bothered to use sign-ins and passwords).
I’m testing Reuters. They’ve done good science reporting.
BBC
CBC
Channel News Asia
Straits Times (some stuff is paywalled!)
South China Morning Post
(Mind you, none of these are ‘American centric’, though they do report on events in US, just not like you may be accustomed to!)
The Guardian site is not behind a paywall, but there is a message at the bottom of articles noting this and nagging the reader to contribute voluntarily.
I like Axios but it is not a full newspaper. Using the menu at the top left get access to a lot more than the main feed.
If you use a MacBook (safari)…open pages behind paywalls in reader. You get all the text and none of the crap.
I don’t know if Windows/other browsers have the same option.
I’d go with the BBC as well. BBC journalists are almost religious in their determination to stay balanced.
Although many argue they aren’t they at least THINK they are. Generally they get it right, but not always of course.
I really find Home - BBC News to be the best and I use News: U.S. and World News Headlines : NPR also.
BBC, Guardian and Reuters are a pretty good combination
I’m a traditionalist and go with https://www.apnews.com/
Since the Associated Press is the root source of information for a lot of American news media, they tend to be - let’s say less hysterical - in their political coverage.
Just note…Google News does not exclude paywall URLS, and those typically show up first in the list for a specific topic.
While this is not a permanent solution, you can open up another browser in the same computer and the paywall freebie count begins again.
Here’s a possible solution. I haven’t tried all the techniques in the article, so use at your own risk.
I suspect the moderators would not approve of discussing ways of bypassing firewalls. But as to Google News links, some websites that limit the number of free articles you can read each month exclude those linked to from Google News (and perhaps other sites).
Or you could just delete their cookies and become a “new” guest.
I mostly access news media indirectly via RSS feeds rather than going straight to their page. I use Calibre ebook reader/manager to download and format those RSS feeds as ebooks. Some feeds only provide article headers or stubs and you have to click through to their webpage for stories you want to read in full. Some are a bit wonky in formatting but if you know python you can update the “recipes” that Calibre uses to tweak them or just deal with it.
Washington Post does not paywall their RSS feed. You get full stories just none of the pictures or videos on the website.
I use a broad sampling of English language news sites from around the world. Many of them download less than daily but it gives me a flavor for perspectives and issues not well covered in US focused media. For more in depth looks I download both the Atlantic and Economist feeds. I’ve got some magazine feeds in the mix. Some blog feeds make the cut and some of them serve as effective news aggregators of primary sources in their are of focus. I’ve even got a couple monthly or quarterly journals that I have set up to download based on their frequency of update.