# Do You Pay for Your News? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 14, 2019, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-for-your-news/837064 "2019-07-14T13:52:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-for-your-news/837064/41 "2019-07-15T03:07:35Z")
Yes, I pay for the daily local, which has mostly national news now they’ve started printing the same paper with different names and ads depending on your region. I also get the Sunday Star Times, but thinking of dropping it. So far I’ve read the travel section of yesterday’s one and may not get much further before the next one comes. I seem to get special offers for the NYT if I click on a link to read an article. Only $1 a week introductory offer. Otherwise there’s The Guardian international edition, which is still free on line. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-for-your-news/837064/42 "2019-07-15T04:15:37Z")
One newspaper; dead-tree version. I skim a couple from around the Old Home Town now and then online but just the free stuff. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-for-your-news/837064/43 "2019-07-15T04:42:49Z")
I haven’t paid for news for years (I don’t even have cable) but recently the NYT had $1/week subscriptions and I was getting tired of not being able to read NYT articles so I got a subscription to share with my brother. I’ve considered paying for my local newspaper just to keep it afloat but they are like 75% advertising so I feel like they’re probably doing ok without me. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-for-your-news/837064/44 "2019-07-15T11:10:02Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > This is remarkable. We Dopers are better-read than most, yet few of us are willing to pay for the news. I don’t pay for a newspaper, but most of what I watch on cable TV is news. So yes, I pay for news, but not in newspaper form. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-for-your-news/837064/45 "2019-07-15T12:43:32Z")
Everyone pays for news in one way or another. We will pay even more when sources of good investigative journalism dry up and all that’s left are TV news and ranting websites/blogs. We have 1 full and 1 weekend newspaper subscriptions. Don’t want to drip coffee on a laptop or squint at a phone screen over Sunday breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-for-your-news/837064/46 "2019-07-15T13:10:20Z")
I pay for online membership of The Guardian (it’s free to read, but this avoids ads). I also tend to either buy the paper Saturday Guardian or its Sunday sister, The Observer. Mainly because if we don’t support those, then we’ll be stuck with a bunch of right wing slanted news, and I couldn’t bear it. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-for-your-news/837064/47 "2019-07-15T14:08:17Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Everyone pays for news in one way or another. > > We will pay even more when sources of good investigative journalism dry up and all that’s left are TV news and ranting websites/blogs. > > We have 1 full and 1 weekend newspaper subscriptions. Don’t want to drip coffee on a laptop or squint at a phone screen over Sunday breakfast. I just read that 3,000 journalists were laid off last year. Not a good trend. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-for-your-news/837064/48 "2019-07-15T19:13:24Z")
I still subscribe to one dead tree newspaper. I still prefer that (and real books) to reading same on-line. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-for-your-news/837064/49 "2019-07-15T19:17:14Z")
I guess the OP isn’t looking for “I pay by viewing ads on the internet”? I once tried a subscription to the local paper, about 15 years ago. They offered one price, charged a lot more, and made it very difficult to cancel, so that soured me on the whole idea. I suspect they were really feeling the financial crunch about that time, but it’s no excuse for screwing over new customers. I’m considering buying a home subscription again, because I can afford it and I think they’re cheaper than they used to be, and also I miss newspapers, just in a general sentimental way. I’m wondering if I should get the small, nearby town, the larger city across the river, or a national paper like USA Today or maybe the New York Times. But no, I don’t currently pay for news, and haven’t for most of my life. Not counting the ad-supported variety. ---
**Author:** ![Noelq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noelq/32/16438_2.png) [@Noelq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noelq)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-for-your-news/837064/50 "2019-07-15T21:43:11Z")
On the first of June, sadly, I cancelled my subscription to the local paper. I was a sunday-only delivery. They raised their rates to $46 per month, making my Sunday paper about $10 per copy. I found this unreasonable. I called them, and let them know that their rate was just too high. Suddenly, they could drop it to $4 per copy for the next six months! Which pissed me off even more - How long had they been overcharging me for their paper? The past 10 years? How much money have they raked off of me, simply because I enjoyed the paper, and wanted to support them. I’ll never go back. I don’t enjoy getting ripped off. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2019, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-for-your-news/837064/51 "2019-07-16T01:09:12Z")
NYT and WAPO online ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2019, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-for-your-news/837064/52 "2019-07-16T02:44:35Z")
Not enough options. No newsmagazines? Anyway, I pay for the New York Times. I have it delivered, and the subscription gives me the electronic edition as well. My firm pays for The Wall Street Journal for me. I also subscribe to the New Yorker and the Atlantic. Also some specialized news – National Catholic Reporter, and a couple of motorcycling publications. And then there are opinion journals. I guess the New Yorker and the Atlantic are opinion journals (among other things), but they also do reporting, so they count as news. I do make contributions to my local NPR station, if that counts. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2019, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-for-your-news/837064/53 "2019-07-16T19:50:33Z")
I’ve paid for a daily newspaper for as long as I remember. My hometown had a morning and afternoon paper. My family paid for both. When I went to college, I picked up that city’s papers (again, morning and afternoon editions) every day. And the WSJ to boot. Ever since I’ve settled down at various residences, I pay to have a newspaper show up in my driveway every day. Right now my “local paper” is the **Washington Post**. I’m actually in one of my “no thanks” periods when they like triple the rate and I quit for a few months until they beg me to come back with another discounted subscription. Even so, I still get the Sunday paper delivered and pick up a daily a time or two a week at the 7-11. I have no interest in on-line news, and I certainly wouldn’t pay for it. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2019, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-for-your-news/837064/54 "2019-07-16T20:19:03Z")
I get the local daily newspaper delivered. I’m stuck in a routine (since I was a kid) - Always read the paper while I eat breakfast. I’d be lost if I couldn’t do that! I also like to do the puzzles. ---
**Author:** ![RickG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rickg/32/5174_2.png) [@RickG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickG)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2019, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-for-your-news/837064/55 "2019-07-16T22:38:23Z")
Here’s what we pay for that’s news and/or journalism: [ul] [li] Local paper (Boulder _Daily Camera_). Physical copy in the driveway every morning.[/li][li] _New York Times_ online[/li][li] ProPublica (annual donation)[/li][li] _The New Yorker_ (physical; if you watch _The Good Place_, you know how they pile up.)[/li][li] Slate Plus[/li][/ul] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-for-your-news/837064.md?page=2)