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I find paying for high-quality journalism goes a long way in how you feel about what you just read. Great journalism will leave you feeling contemplative and in

I find paying for high-quality journalism goes a long way in how you feel about what you just read. Great journalism will leave you feeling contemplative and informed. Most of the "journalism" on "free" sites leave you feeling confused, anxious, or outright manipulated. It's like junk food... yeah it did the job, but at what cost?

michaelgrafl 4y ago
I completely agree, and I'd like to add that reading good books feels contemplative and enriching as well. In other words: it feels healthy.
BurningFrog 4y ago
I agree in theory, but how do I find high-quality journalism sources?
- deleted 4y ago
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- ndm000 4y ago
  A couple of months ago I stopped checking the news except for once a week, and found weekly news summaries from the Economist to be extremely helpful. I found that I was more relaxed during the week, more contemplative about the events of the world, and had stronger reactions to things that occurred because I didn’t feel bombarded by so much information.
  - leokennis 4y ago
    +! for the Economist. It's not only that their slower pace leads to less hype-y news, but also that their writing is extremely clear and well edited.
  - zumu 4y ago
    For posterity, I'll mention there is also The Economist Espresso for those of us who prefer a daily dose. It's a concise summary of the events of the day and entirely void of polemic. I will have to try this weekly approach.
- sixo 4y ago
  note when you find something that impresses you, it has probably been curated by an editor or an institution with standards, and follow that thread. And look for things written on a slower cadence than daily. To start with, the NYT has traditionally been considered high-quality but since the internet age is torn by interests in attention-grabbing topics, controversial and contrarian takes, having SOMETHING to say about everything, and "being fair to both sides" (and to various class backgrounds) to maintain its "centrist" / "paper of record" industry position. Sometimes the long-form articles are high-quality, but often they are the way they are for some of those other reasons. Every publication is going to have SOME bias, but as a starting point the Atlantic (leans left) and the Economist (pretty much defines Sober Neoliberal Center) are good. I like Harper's but it's more literary/essay-focused. A nice mix of substacks can be good. Most good writers will be annoying to you in some way, you have to put up with that for good informed writing, as opposed to "comfort zone" writing that is going to validate everything you feel by oversimplifying reality. E.g. I like Matt Yglesias' and Noah Smith's substack as news and as statements of a certain centrist/economic-realist takes, and good zoomed-out commentary on politics, but I find their contrarian voices on twitter annoying (: In all the work is: finding writers you like, and resisting the urge to fall into things that are too comfortable or appeal to your "baser" tendencies, for informedness, to know what-to-think-to-be-on-the-right-side, etc.
  - crims0n 4y ago
    Great input! I forgot all about Harper's for some years now... your mention prompted me to resubscribe. Would also like to throw in the Wall Street Journal for news. If you stay away from the opinion sections, they are pretty firmly center and provide some great coverage of current events. Incidentally, several of these (Atlantic, Economist, WSJ) are available on Apple News+ if you already happen to be paying for it.

michaelgrafl 4y ago

I completely agree, and I'd like to add that reading good books feels contemplative and enriching as well. In other words: it feels healthy.

BurningFrog 4y ago

I agree in theory, but how do I find high-quality journalism sources?

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
ndm000 4y ago
A couple of months ago I stopped checking the news except for once a week, and found weekly news summaries from the Economist to be extremely helpful. I found that I was more relaxed during the week, more contemplative about the events of the world, and had stronger reactions to things that occurred because I didn’t feel bombarded by so much information.
- leokennis 4y ago
  +! for the Economist. It's not only that their slower pace leads to less hype-y news, but also that their writing is extremely clear and well edited.
- zumu 4y ago
  For posterity, I'll mention there is also The Economist Espresso for those of us who prefer a daily dose. It's a concise summary of the events of the day and entirely void of polemic. I will have to try this weekly approach.
sixo 4y ago
note when you find something that impresses you, it has probably been curated by an editor or an institution with standards, and follow that thread. And look for things written on a slower cadence than daily. To start with, the NYT has traditionally been considered high-quality but since the internet age is torn by interests in attention-grabbing topics, controversial and contrarian takes, having SOMETHING to say about everything, and "being fair to both sides" (and to various class backgrounds) to maintain its "centrist" / "paper of record" industry position. Sometimes the long-form articles are high-quality, but often they are the way they are for some of those other reasons. Every publication is going to have SOME bias, but as a starting point the Atlantic (leans left) and the Economist (pretty much defines Sober Neoliberal Center) are good. I like Harper's but it's more literary/essay-focused. A nice mix of substacks can be good. Most good writers will be annoying to you in some way, you have to put up with that for good informed writing, as opposed to "comfort zone" writing that is going to validate everything you feel by oversimplifying reality. E.g. I like Matt Yglesias' and Noah Smith's substack as news and as statements of a certain centrist/economic-realist takes, and good zoomed-out commentary on politics, but I find their contrarian voices on twitter annoying (: In all the work is: finding writers you like, and resisting the urge to fall into things that are too comfortable or appeal to your "baser" tendencies, for informedness, to know what-to-think-to-be-on-the-right-side, etc.
- crims0n 4y ago
  Great input! I forgot all about Harper's for some years now... your mention prompted me to resubscribe. Would also like to throw in the Wall Street Journal for news. If you stay away from the opinion sections, they are pretty firmly center and provide some great coverage of current events. Incidentally, several of these (Atlantic, Economist, WSJ) are available on Apple News+ if you already happen to be paying for it.