Supporting journalism

November 15, 2016 2:50 PM

More than ever, I feel like it's really important to fund real journalism. I like long form articles which explain the historical, economic and political forces that shape current events. I want to understand the motivations of both sides. In the vein of Longreads, the Atlantic, Mother Jones . . . assuming I can only choose one or two subscriptions, which ones do you recommend?
posted by onecircleaday to Society & Culture (9 answers total)

ProPublica would appreciate your donations!
posted by suelac at 2:52 PM on November 15, 2016 [11 favorites]

I really like The Guardian Weekly - it's a good balance between analysis and "just the news." Unlike every major US newspaper, they named Bannon a white nationalist. You can also get it delivered to your house weekly for less than a digital subscription costs.

I second donating to ProPublica for good, long form investigative reporting. Mother Jones is pretty simplistic and rah rah Democratic Party, but their Investigations section is top notch.

If you're in the Western US, you might consider High Country News. They've got really solid, longform writing on regional issues. I really enjoyed their recent issue about providing healthcare in the region.

I subscribed to Jacobin for a year and really enjoyed it. It's obviously a lefty magazine, but I appreciated the historical context and detailed analysis in many of their articles. I also learned a lot about leftist politics and history reading it.

If you've got a strong interest in environmental issues, I think Orion is astonishingly good and often overlooked. If you've got a literary bent, n+1 is top notch.
posted by congen at 3:51 PM on November 15, 2016 [9 favorites]

The New York Times and the Washington Post, because they're totally mainstream, unlike High Country News, and thus have a much broader reach and aren't immediately dismissed as unreliable by skeptics from anywhere on the political spectrum.
posted by Capri at 4:53 PM on November 15, 2016 [1 favorite]

You might also consider supporting a publication or broadcaster that's doing a particularly good job with local-to-you issues. The local news the national publications use for their work has to come from somewhere, and the locals have a lot less name recognition and a smaller audience than the nationals.
posted by asperity at 5:26 PM on November 15, 2016 [1 favorite]

With all due respect, not the NY Times and the Washington Post, who both contributed heartily to this situation. There have been many pieces in the last few days on why the media got this election so wrong, but this piece by Thomas Frank (written before the election) is an excellent exploration of how and why mainstream media just isn't doing their job these days. And that's on top of WaPo now having the dubious distinction of being the first paper to ever call for prosecution of their own source.

If you want to fund real investigative journalism, I agree ProPublica is a great one, as is FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting). Another one recently recommended to me is Poynter.
posted by veery at 8:06 PM on November 15, 2016 [3 favorites]

The London Review of Books does a lot of excellent long-form political analysis, setting current problems in a broader historical and cultural context. It's a bit UK-focused, though, and I think the LA or NY Review of Books offer the same quality of analysis with a US focus.

I also find it worth reading The Economist. I don't share their political leanings - though I'm realising I have more in common with them than I thought, now we are in Trumpworld - but they do really detailed and factually rich stories about international politics.
posted by Aravis76 at 11:33 PM on November 15, 2016 [2 favorites]

Back to second Aravis76 on subscribing to something like the London Review of Books. Here's a recent good example from the LARB of a long-form political analysis, setting current problems in a broader historical and cultural context.
posted by congen at 7:51 AM on November 16, 2016

Consider subscribing to your local paper. John Oliver has a nice bit on how local papers do a lot of the grunt work that other news sources rely on.
posted by craven_morhead at 9:57 AM on November 16, 2016 [1 favorite]

Subscribe to Talking Points Memo. Josh is talking about hiring a whole bunch of investigative reporters given the Trump election.
posted by leotrotsky at 1:43 PM on November 16, 2016