4 ms·

Ask HN: Is there a service that summarizes news for the last week or month?

16 points by paulz_ 8y ago

Lately I'm finding keeping up with the news is taking up more time than I'm comfortable with. I've tried cutting back and checking less often but when I did that I become misinformed about some of the news due to missing context / important stories along the way leading up to the day I happened to check it. A lot of the news content I consume feels speculative and addictive. A lot of hand wringing about what might happen, whereas if I could just wait and read the story at the end of the week or month I could consume the news in one article / summary instead of a slow trickle over many days / articles. Basically, I want to batch my news consumption down to one day so that it isn't a constant distraction. I've been googling around for this but I'm having a really hard time finding something along those lines. I would definitely be open to paying for a service like this. Have any HN users found a service like this or a better solution than what I'm describing? Thanks.

angersock 8y ago
https://www.nytimes.com/subscription/hd/1041.html https://www.nytimes.com/subscription/hd/1041.html We used to call them the Sunday paper.
- paulz_ 8y ago
  That model is actually very close to what I'm looking for. I'd prefer for it to be digital but would be open to other mediums. I do worry a little that one newspaper would leave me with blind spots / the same context problems but I've honestly never consumed news that way so I don't know. I wonder if Sunday papers are still a summary of the weeks news or if they assume some prior knowledge.
  - hellbanner 8y ago
    >I've honestly never consumed news that way so I don't know. >I wonder if Sunday papers are still a summary of the weeks news or if they assume some prior knowledge. Is this a real account?
    - paulz_ 8y ago
      >Is this a real account? Haha, yes. I guess that does sound strange. I've grown up consuming news via the internet. It always seemed like a faster / easier way to get news rather than buying a magazine or newspaper. I would be open to using an older format like a newspaper, but I worry that they may have the same problems because I cannot find an online service like this provided by newspapers (NYT used to have a weekly summary but it has been discontinued for example).
Cthoma 8y ago
http://n-gate.com http://n-gate.com
- paulz_ 8y ago
  Hangs on the security check when I try to visit. https://i.imgur.com/JWbP197.png https://i.imgur.com/JWbP197.png
  - hellbanner 8y ago
    Yeah, it's broken. Move along, netizen.
hellbanner 8y ago
"Important stories" what kind of news are you missing out on that has such an effect on you? I think you need a break from the news.
- paulz_ 8y ago
  So I've tried this as well to great effect. I can see objective positive benefits in my life when I stop consuming news all together. I've considered going this route and "taking a break" permanently. I feel sort of guilty doing that though, like I'm being a bad citizen by not being informed about what is happening in the world. I've also tried just batching it down to one day with the current news sites I visit but I found it surprisingly difficult to understand the context of what was happening based on the news of that day. Ideally I'd like to have my cake and eat it too. Only spend a little time per week or month reading the news but be as informed as someone who was consuming the slow trickle of the same news every day throughout the month.
  - hellbanner 8y ago
    Yeah, if you commit thoughtcrime by not staying in sync with the zeitgeist you will be kicked out of the tribe, kind of like a bad fork on a blockchain.
HenryTheHorse 8y ago
How would that be different from reading the New Yorker or Harper's or The Economist? Not only do they pick the most newsworthy stories of the previous week, they also editorialize, comment, qualify, elaborate and explain. Pretty neat!
brudgers 8y ago
The Economist
- dasboth 8y ago
  I'll second this. Switching from browsing news sites daily to just reading The Economist (in print, not online) has made me feel no less well-informed, if sometimes a few days out of date, but much less stressed about "keeping on top of the news", which is a losing game.
dragonwriter 8y ago
> Ask HN: Is there a service that summarizes news for the last week or month? Yes, a weekly or monthly news magazine. They've fallen out of favor in the last couple decades, but there are still a few around.
hackermailman 8y ago
Google slow news magazines, there's a few of them or weekend edition NYT/WSJ https://www.slow-journalism.com/ https://www.slow-journalism.com/
rp1229 8y ago
Wikipedia has a good summary page which you can skim on a daily/monthly basis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Current_events/April_2018 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Current_events/April_20...
minijeng 8y ago
Above the fold will give you a snapshot of news across multiple outlets http://www.abovethefold.io/ http://www.abovethefold.io/