Physical newspaper

Dec 18, 2024

I'm on the hunt for a way to catch up with the news on a casual basis. I don't want to subject myself to the daily news cycle with its whirlwind of cortisol-inducing clickbait. Nor do I want to just check out, resigning myself to ignorance or indifference. Where's the middle path?

I recently read some relevant advice from Cal Newport:

I suggest you switch to a slower pace of media consumption. Don’t laugh at this suggestion, because I’m actually serious: consider picking up the occasional old-fashioned printed newspaper (free from algorithmic optimization and click-bait curation) at your local coffee shop or library to check in, all at once, on anything major going on in the world. I think I might setup a Sunday-only paper subscription as my main source of news this winter.¹

So I did just that. I ordered a subscription to the print edition of the Sunday New York Times for $20/month.

I was excited at first. But the challenge I soon found with this, as with most things, is time. I don't have a few free hours to casually peruse such a large paper each Sunday. I have small kids who are busy with sports and such, an extroverted wife who would like me to actually pay attention to her and the family, a house and the attendant housekeeping, a handful of already neglected hobbies, and so on.

As a result, the Sunday paper became one more project on the list. I tried to rush through the important headlines, perhaps reading half an article here or there if it was particularly interesting. I'd skim through the Sunday Styles and the New York Times Magazine (a glossy zine embedded in the paper). I'd recycle the sections I got through and leave the rest in a pile for later, knowing my wife would be accommodating but also unimpressed with the clutter. I'd glance at the pile throughout the next day or two or three, feeling mounting pressure to find more time to finish it and clear it off the list (and the table). And finally, having failed to properly enjoy it, I'd lament the wasted paper.

After a few weeks of this, I called it off. If I had a few hours each Sunday to devote to it, I think it'd be a nice solution. But in this stage of life, it's another stressor. The hunt continues.

If you have a recommendation, please email me!

Update: After some minutes and Googling, I decided to try the print edition of the Economist. I'll write an update once I've given it a go.

Update 2: I got an email from a friendly person named Reed with some great thoughts. Here's a summary of them.

Sources

• Allsides RSS
• NPR for your given state
• Local newspaper
• State legislator's newsletter

Thoughts

• Prioritize sources that are more directly relevant to you. For example, Reed mentioned that if I have kids (which I do), I might want to stay current with what my school district is up to.
• Even once you find the right sources, it can still be a struggle to keep up. If you add too much to your feed reader, you might start avoiding it.

This is really good stuff. Thank you again, Reed!