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The alternative to The Economist is a well curated collection of RSS feeds. Identify a set of intelligent blogs/columnists who post regularly, put their feeds i

The alternative to The Economist is a well curated collection of RSS feeds. Identify a set of intelligent blogs/columnists who post regularly, put their feeds into an OPML file, and you have a great alternative. Added bonus: you can have X and anti-X perspectives for most values of X.

dhx 4y ago
This is the best answer so far. I would add that a researcher/blogger/columnist well versed in the languages/industries/topics they write about, and fusing together and referencing data sources used to form their commentary/view is optimal. For example, the recent Economist article "In Ukraine, living as normal is an act of defiance"[1] presents a view of everyday civilian life in Kyiv but offers no references or links to anything of substance. This article would be much more useful and interesting if it provided references, data (as opposed to anecdotes from interviews of a few people) and visual information at both macro and micro levels. For example, the following types of information could be useful in answering the question of "what is life currently like in Kyiv?": 1. A picture showing the rate of growth of "Point of Unbreakability" sites across Ukraine[2] alongside links to videos of a few sites being toured (to show an example of what they typically look like). 2. A link to daily reports on the Ukraine energy grids[3] and a graphical map of changes in energy availability over time. 3. Recent walking tours of Ukrainian cities. 4. A link to retail pricing and availability of a generator or typical basket of groceries and a graph showing changes over time. Or a video tour of typical supermarkets or retail outlets showing the effect of the war on supply of goods[4][5]. Some journalists at media outlets do provide well researched articles from time to time filled with graphs, maps and tables of data[6] but they still generally don't add references and photos/videos. I find this is particularly true for articles that frustratingly claim "New research from the University of Something shows ..." yet there is no mention of the paper title or link to the article in an open journal. Or any reporting on legislation or legal matters--would it be so difficult to link to case information on a court system, link to a bill presented before parliament, etc? [1] https://www.economist.com/europe/2022/11/23/in-ukraine-living-as-normal-is-an-act-of-defiance https://www.economist.com/europe/2022/11/23/in-ukraine-livin... [2] https://nezlamnist-gov-ua.translate.goog/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp https://nezlamnist-gov-ua.translate.goog/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_t... [3] https://dixigroup.org/en/analytic/russian-war-against-ukraine-energy-dimension-daily-updating-dixi-group-alert/ https://dixigroup.org/en/analytic/russian-war-against-ukrain... [4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzO0ikUcL-c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzO0ikUcL-c [5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzsEdRLML5E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzsEdRLML5E [6] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-10-19/maplab-monitoring-the-invasion-of-ukraine-from-outer-space https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-10-19/maplab... (example relating to how some media outlets have been using satellite imagery during the Ukraine war, also see 'Map Links' at the bottom for more examples)

dhx 4y ago

This is the best answer so far. I would add that a researcher/blogger/columnist well versed in the languages/industries/topics they write about, and fusing together and referencing data sources used to form their commentary/view is optimal. For example, the recent Economist article "In Ukraine, living as normal is an act of defiance"[1] presents a view of everyday civilian life in Kyiv but offers no references or links to anything of substance. This article would be much more useful and interesting if it provided references, data (as opposed to anecdotes from interviews of a few people) and visual information at both macro and micro levels. For example, the following types of information could be useful in answering the question of "what is life currently like in Kyiv?": 1. A picture showing the rate of growth of "Point of Unbreakability" sites across Ukraine[2] alongside links to videos of a few sites being toured (to show an example of what they typically look like). 2. A link to daily reports on the Ukraine energy grids[3] and a graphical map of changes in energy availability over time. 3. Recent walking tours of Ukrainian cities. 4. A link to retail pricing and availability of a generator or typical basket of groceries and a graph showing changes over time. Or a video tour of typical supermarkets or retail outlets showing the effect of the war on supply of goods[4][5]. Some journalists at media outlets do provide well researched articles from time to time filled with graphs, maps and tables of data[6] but they still generally don't add references and photos/videos. I find this is particularly true for articles that frustratingly claim "New research from the University of Something shows ..." yet there is no mention of the paper title or link to the article in an open journal. Or any reporting on legislation or legal matters--would it be so difficult to link to case information on a court system, link to a bill presented before parliament, etc? [1] https://www.economist.com/europe/2022/11/23/in-ukraine-living-as-normal-is-an-act-of-defiance https://www.economist.com/europe/2022/11/23/in-ukraine-livin... [2] https://nezlamnist-gov-ua.translate.goog/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp https://nezlamnist-gov-ua.translate.goog/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_t... [3] https://dixigroup.org/en/analytic/russian-war-against-ukraine-energy-dimension-daily-updating-dixi-group-alert/ https://dixigroup.org/en/analytic/russian-war-against-ukrain... [4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzO0ikUcL-c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzO0ikUcL-c [5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzsEdRLML5E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzsEdRLML5E [6] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-10-19/maplab-monitoring-the-invasion-of-ukraine-from-outer-space https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-10-19/maplab... (example relating to how some media outlets have been using satellite imagery during the Ukraine war, also see 'Map Links' at the bottom for more examples)