Best Daily Newspaper for National (US) News

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities
Topic Author
Jacobkg
Posts: 704
Joined: Sat May 23, 2009 7:32 pm

Best Daily Newspaper for National (US) News

Post by Jacobkg »

I don't read opinion pieces so I don't care whether they bias left/right/up/down. Just wondering what people think is the best newspaper for national news, with coverage of important international events as well.
User avatar
dkdoy
Posts: 572
Joined: Sat Jun 13, 2009 11:07 am
Location: Oregon

Post by dkdoy »

My favorite for a newspaper is the WSJ. For magazine I like the Economist.
livesoft
Posts: 85971
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2007 7:00 pm

Post by livesoft »

NY Times without a doubt. It has no peers. www.nytimes.com up to now, it's free.
User avatar
woof755
Posts: 3263
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2007 2:03 pm
Location: Honolulu

Post by woof755 »

The Onion
"By singing in harmony from the same page of the same investing hymnal, the Diehards drown out market noise." | | --Jason Zweig, quoted in The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing
User avatar
Jake46
Posts: 748
Joined: Tue Feb 20, 2007 9:16 am
Location: Fort Collins, Colorado

Post by Jake46 »

N Y Times +1
Munchkin Man
Posts: 930
Joined: Sun Apr 01, 2007 10:55 am

Post by Munchkin Man »

Greetings:

The Munchkin Man's all time favorite newspaper is no longer in print.

Fortunately, it is still available on the internet.

http://weeklyworldnews.com/

The editorials by Ed Anger were priceless.

Best Wishes,

Munchkin Man
User avatar
DA
Posts: 901
Joined: Sun Sep 30, 2007 8:19 pm

Post by DA »

livesoft wrote:NY Times without a doubt. It has no peers. www.nytimes.com up to now, it's free.
I like the WSJ.

[comment removed by admin alex]
User avatar
CrankyManager
Posts: 243
Joined: Wed May 12, 2010 10:12 am
Location: Nebraska

Post by CrankyManager »

The Onion +1

But in all seriousness, I only read the WSJ daily, with the occasional USAToday hotel-browsing thrown in.
"Does not Dionysius seem to have made it sufficiently clear that there can be nothing happy for the person over whom some fear always looms?" -- Cicero
User avatar
woof755
Posts: 3263
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2007 2:03 pm
Location: Honolulu

Post by woof755 »

NYT is my paper of choice. But if this thread goes on too long, the differences between NYT and WSJ (or certainly Washington Post) will get it locked!

Financial Times has some great articles, and can be added to a Yahoo! home page.
"By singing in harmony from the same page of the same investing hymnal, the Diehards drown out market noise." | | --Jason Zweig, quoted in The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing
fishndoc
Posts: 2327
Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2007 11:50 am

Post by fishndoc »

Not really a newspaper, but I read BBC on-line news daily; gives an "outsiders" perspective to US news, and also a view of world news that gets filtered out by US news sources.
" Successful investing involves doing just a few things right, and avoiding serious mistakes." - J. Bogle
User avatar
VictoriaF
Posts: 20122
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 6:27 am
Location: Black Swan Lake

Post by VictoriaF »

Washington Post. For me it provides local, as well as national, news.

Victoria
Inventor of the Bogleheads Secret Handshake | Winner of the 2015 Boglehead Contest. | Every joke has a bit of a joke. ... The rest is the truth. (Marat F)
Fallible
Posts: 8795
Joined: Fri Nov 27, 2009 3:44 pm

Post by Fallible »

Favorites are the New York Times, Washington Post (it's got cartoons!!), WSJ and the Onion. But when forced to choose one, it's the NYT.
User avatar
HueyLD
Posts: 9782
Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 9:30 am

Re: Best Daily Newspaper for National (US) News

Post by HueyLD »

Jacobkg wrote:I don't read opinion pieces so I don't care whether they bias left/right/up/down. Just wondering what people think is the best newspaper for national news, with coverage of important international events as well.
Based on your criteria (i.e., skipping the op ed section), NYT is definitely the number one and the best source for national and international news for most U.S. residents.
chaz
Posts: 13604
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 1:44 pm

Post by chaz »

NY Times, but on the internet I like the Drudge Report.
Chaz | | “Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons." Woody Allen | | http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
yobria
Posts: 5978
Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2007 10:58 pm
Location: SF CA USA

Post by yobria »

New York Times - 104 Pulitzers and counting....

Nick
User avatar
nisiprius
Advisory Board
Posts: 52105
Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:33 am
Location: The terrestrial, globular, planetary hunk of matter, flattened at the poles, is my abode.--O. Henry

Post by nisiprius »

The New York Times.
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness; Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.
Puakinekine
Posts: 856
Joined: Sat Apr 14, 2007 9:18 pm

Post by Puakinekine »

The New York Times
User avatar
dual
Posts: 1371
Joined: Mon Feb 26, 2007 6:02 pm

Re: Best Daily Newspaper for National (US) News

Post by dual »

Jacobkg wrote:Just wondering what people think is the best newspaper for national news, with coverage of important international events as well.
My two favorites are Investor's Business Daily and Washington Times. IBD provides good overall national news coverage in their summary section and the Times has in-depth reporting you will not find elsewhere.
teacher_in_tx
Posts: 243
Joined: Fri May 07, 2010 8:13 pm

Post by teacher_in_tx »

The New York Times :)

A lot of the NY Times' pieces have strong slants, but what they cover makes it so interesting.

-mike
rokidtoo
Posts: 391
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2010 7:53 am

Post by rokidtoo »

VictoriaF wrote:Washington Post. For me it provides local, as well as national, news.
WaPo's local news is the national news!------Jim
User avatar
Allocationist
Posts: 97
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2007 9:32 pm

Post by Allocationist »

The New York Times online.

A year ago I would have said the Wall Street Journal online. I have subscribed to the WSJ for over twenty years but I do not plan to renew again for three reasons:

IMO, there are less in-depth articles now than in the past- the WSJ seems to be moving in the direction of U.S.A. Today, etc.

Last year the WSJ advised me my online renewal rate would be increased by over 50 percent. After several phone calls involving multiple layers of their "customer service" bureaucracy they were kind enough to not increase my rate for one a year. If I renewed my subscription I would undoubtedly need to go through the same hassle again.

The most recent WSJ annoyance is the publisher's restricting some content to paid subscribers who have not "upgraded" (extract more money from subscribers who have already paid) to the "WSJ Pro."

JMO
User avatar
kellyfj
Posts: 283
Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2007 12:41 pm

Post by kellyfj »

WSJ +1
User avatar
mickeyd
Posts: 4898
Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2007 2:19 pm
Location: Deep in the Heart of South Texas

Post by mickeyd »

Ive heard good things about the Daily Planet. Truth, Justice, the American Way~Catchy!
Part-Owner of Texas | | “The CMH-the Cost Matters Hypothesis -is all that is needed to explain why indexing must and will work… Yes, it is that simple.” John C. Bogle
User avatar
Opponent Process
Posts: 5157
Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2007 9:19 pm

Post by Opponent Process »

I enjoy hearing different points of view and I'd prefer not to remain in a bubble, people tend to notice that. So I browse NYT, WSJ, Drudge, and Huffington Post, and my homepage is BBC news.
30/30/20/20 | US/International/Bonds/TIPS | Average Age=37
User avatar
FrugalInvestor
Posts: 6213
Joined: Thu Nov 06, 2008 11:20 pm

Re: Best Daily Newspaper for National (US) News

Post by FrugalInvestor »

Jacobkg wrote:I don't read opinion pieces so I don't care whether they bias left/right/up/down.
Unfortuately the line between news and opinion is usually invisible. If you think that by not reading the editorial/opinion page that you are getting the unfiltered facts you are usually sadly mistaken. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing as long as you go in with your eyes open and read multiple sources.

I read the WSJ and The Economist and peruse many others.
Have a plan, stay the course and simplify. Then ignore the noise!
livesoft
Posts: 85971
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2007 7:00 pm

Post by livesoft »

If you can read this, then there really is no excuse not to get your news from several places.

OTOH, it is amusing to read how reporters take the same wire-feed and add/subtract their own spin. The BBC web site has links to other papers for just about every article, so you can read what the Pakistani press is saying about air strikes if you so choose.

I guess my point is that much of news comes directly from a press release and there is no analysis or checking of facts. You will already know this if you have been the subject of a news article: Most of the what is reported is simply overstated or worse: incorrect in detail. (Note to Taylor Larimorre:I did not use the word "always" :) )
User avatar
Taylor Larimore
Posts: 32839
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 7:09 pm
Location: Miami FL

Always

Post by Taylor Larimore »

Hi lifesoft:
Note to Taylor Larimorre:I did not use the word "always."


You are smarter than I am. I learned the hard way. :wink:
"Simplicity is the master key to financial success." -- Jack Bogle
fishndoc
Posts: 2327
Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2007 11:50 am

Re: Best Daily Newspaper for National (US) News

Post by fishndoc »

FrugalInvestor wrote:
Jacobkg wrote:I don't read opinion pieces so I don't care whether they bias left/right/up/down.
Unfortuately the line between news and opinion is usually invisible. If you think that by not reading the editorial/opinion page that you are getting the unfiltered facts you are usually sadly mistaken. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing as long as you go in with your eyes open and read multiple sources.
Absolutely,
next time you read a major news story out of the Middle East in the NYT, go to the BBC or the FT and read the coverage of the same story.
" Successful investing involves doing just a few things right, and avoiding serious mistakes." - J. Bogle
User avatar
CountryBoy
Posts: 1777
Joined: Wed Feb 28, 2007 9:21 am
Location: NY

Post by CountryBoy »

The Financial Times.
Pacific
Posts: 1609
Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2007 7:19 pm
Location: Lost in the middle of the Pacific

Post by Pacific »

I'm sorry, but what is a daily newspaper?
User avatar
Opponent Process
Posts: 5157
Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2007 9:19 pm

Post by Opponent Process »

Pacific wrote:I'm sorry, but what is a daily newspaper?
it's a physical printing of the news the day after it hits the internet.
30/30/20/20 | US/International/Bonds/TIPS | Average Age=37
User avatar
Padlin
Posts: 981
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2007 6:46 pm
Location: MA

Post by Padlin »

The WSJ.
As it's the only daily I have access to other then the local, I can't say it's better or worse then any others. I do however prefer the new WSJ, a much broader scope then the original. I miss some of the pre News corp writers though.
Regards | Bob
User avatar
Rob5TCP
Posts: 3811
Joined: Tue Jun 05, 2007 7:34 pm
Location: New York, NY

Post by Rob5TCP »

WSJ online (no longer subscribe, only the free article - though I was offered one year at $79 to resubscribe with a free $20 Amazon card).

NYT online - I stopped receiving the newspapers when I realized I already most of the articles by the time it arrived.

For fun, Onion.

Washington Times - read it a couple of times. Can't stomach a paper owned by Moonies.
User avatar
Eric
Posts: 862
Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2007 4:44 pm
Location: Texas

Post by Eric »

Washington Post online, WSJ in print. But thinking of dropping the WSJ.
User avatar
3CT_Paddler
Posts: 3485
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2009 4:28 pm
Location: Marietta, GA

Post by 3CT_Paddler »

yobria wrote:New York Times - 104 Pulitzers and counting....

Nick
And don't forget one Jayson Blair!

Livesoft do you really believe NYT really has no peer? I don't see the WSJ people making the same claim.... seems a little over the top if you ask me.

This thread is going to have a difficult time remaining unlocked, because it is one step away from political discourse.

It's kind of like asking... who's your favorite economist?... the answer will notify everyone what your political views happen to be.

If you like reading online, I like a news aggregator website like RealClearPolitics which carries articles from both sides of the aisle. I think WSJ and NYT are probably the top two national papers, depending on which way you lean politically.
RTR2006
Posts: 826
Joined: Thu May 24, 2007 5:38 pm
Location: Near SF...

Post by RTR2006 »

Here's one more vote for the NYT. Started with Sunday delivery back in the late 1970s and I've been getting it daily since about 1982...

Single best newspaper in the world and as a friend once said, they have better sidebar articles in their magazine than most papers have in their front page stories.

RTR
yobria
Posts: 5978
Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2007 10:58 pm
Location: SF CA USA

Post by yobria »

3CT_Paddler wrote:This thread is going to have a difficult time remaining unlocked, because it is one step away from political discourse.
I'd say this is a topic a mature adult could discuss without working himself into a political frenzy. If not, perhaps a vacation is in order...

Nick
livesoft
Posts: 85971
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2007 7:00 pm

Post by livesoft »

3CT_Paddler wrote:Livesoft do you really believe NYT really has no peer? I don't see the WSJ people making the same claim.... seems a little over the top if you ask me.
Absolutely yes. I have plenty of time to read the news. I read the WSJ, the BBC news, the LA Times, WaPo, Boston Globe, my local paper, my local local paper, Reuters, Süddeutsche Zeitung, NPR, PBS, etc, etc. None of these publications can make the same claim. None.

I'll say it again: The NY Times has no peer. I'll agree with you that the NYT and WSJ are the top 2 national papers.
CrazyPete
Posts: 91
Joined: Thu Apr 03, 2008 12:42 am

Post by CrazyPete »

WSJ+1

I also love how they put the entertainment right in there with the news, at the back of section A.

[I hope that doesn't get me into trouble for being too political]
User avatar
stratton
Posts: 11085
Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2007 4:05 pm
Location: Puget Sound

Post by stratton »

All papers have a slant or bias. You just have to find it.

The Financial Times runs special sections each week on places like Russia. Not one story about the sudden giant tax bills against foreign investors that materialize out of nowhere. All kinds of "improving the rule of law" quotes.

Paul
...and then Buffy staked Edward. The end.
stevethefundguy
Posts: 57
Joined: Sat Jun 02, 2007 10:20 pm

Post by stevethefundguy »

Nick wrote:
New York Times - 104 Pulitzers and counting....

yobria wrote:
And don't forget one Jayson Blair!


And Walter Duranty.
User avatar
3CT_Paddler
Posts: 3485
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2009 4:28 pm
Location: Marietta, GA

Post by 3CT_Paddler »

yobria wrote:
3CT_Paddler wrote:This thread is going to have a difficult time remaining unlocked, because it is one step away from political discourse.
I'd say this is a topic a mature adult could discuss without working himself into a political frenzy. If not, perhaps a vacation is in order...

Nick
I am just saying that certain topics have a tendency to gravitate toward's politics... and this is one of them... regardless of the maturity of the members of this board. And the whole WSJ vs NY Times preference is really just a veiled vote on where your political allegiences lie.
User avatar
3CT_Paddler
Posts: 3485
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2009 4:28 pm
Location: Marietta, GA

Post by 3CT_Paddler »

livesoft wrote:
3CT_Paddler wrote:Livesoft do you really believe NYT really has no peer? I don't see the WSJ people making the same claim.... seems a little over the top if you ask me.
Absolutely yes. I have plenty of time to read the news. I read the WSJ, the BBC news, the LA Times, WaPo, Boston Globe, my local paper, my local local paper, Reuters, Süddeutsche Zeitung, NPR, PBS, etc, etc. None of these publications can make the same claim. None.

I'll say it again: The NY Times has no peer. I'll agree with you that the NYT and WSJ are the top 2 national papers.
That's a reasonable response, even if I disagree. Curious what it is exactly about the NYT that makes it your unrivaled leader for US newspapers?
User avatar
dkdoy
Posts: 572
Joined: Sat Jun 13, 2009 11:07 am
Location: Oregon

Post by dkdoy »

3CT_Paddler wrote:
livesoft wrote:
3CT_Paddler wrote:Livesoft do you really believe NYT really has no peer? I don't see the WSJ people making the same claim.... seems a little over the top if you ask me.
Absolutely yes. I have plenty of time to read the news. I read the WSJ, the BBC news, the LA Times, WaPo, Boston Globe, my local paper, my local local paper, Reuters, Süddeutsche Zeitung, NPR, PBS, etc, etc. None of these publications can make the same claim. None.

I'll say it again: The NY Times has no peer. I'll agree with you that the NYT and WSJ are the top 2 national papers.
That's a reasonable response, even if I disagree. Curious what it is exactly about the NYT that makes it your unrivaled leader for US newspapers?
I would ask the same question.
Fallible
Posts: 8795
Joined: Fri Nov 27, 2009 3:44 pm

Post by Fallible »

livesoft wrote:I guess my point is that much of news comes directly from a press release and there is no analysis or checking of facts. You will already know this if you have been the subject of a news article: Most of the what is reported is simply overstated or worse: incorrect in detail. (Note to Taylor Larimorre:I did not use the word "always" :) )
As a longtime and now retired journalist, I feel compelled to reply, at least from my own experience in the business.

As for press releases, the news organizations I worked for (newspapers, broadcast, and wire service) used them - if they used them at all - as just a starting point to then assign to a reporter to develop; how much they would be developed depended on the quality of the release itself, the subject, and deadlines. If they could not be adequately developed, e.g., sources not available for verification or necessary background, etc., they either did not run at all or ran later when that information was available. As for wire service stories, some could be run as is, though they were always edited and some were further developed to add local angles. Did we make mistakes? Of course. And we worked hard to minimize them. Errors were an agony (and out there for all the world to see) and corrections were made as quickly as they could be caught.

There are bad apples out there, as in any business, but this is the world of journalism I knew and loved.
livesoft
Posts: 85971
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2007 7:00 pm

Post by livesoft »

3CT_Paddler wrote:That's a reasonable response, even if I disagree. Curious what it is exactly about the NYT that makes it your unrivaled leader for US newspapers?
I am happy to oblige. But first, I don't think the newspapers I read necessarily tells you anything about my political leanings. :)

NYTimes has a weekend magazine, WSJ does not.

NYTimes sends reporters to Iraq and Afghanistan. I am not aware that the WSJ does that.

NYTimes has special reporting on Health, Physical Education, College Education. WSJ does not.

NYTimes has special sport reporting. I don't think the WSJ does much sport reporting at all. Same goes for Science reporting and many other categories. For example, today's obit of Charpak in the NYT is great, but nothing in the WSJ.

NYTimes: Book section.

The NYTimes probably has more articles about the WSJ than vice versa. :twisted:

I could go on and on and on. Now your turn. Please tell me why you think the WSJ is a peer of the NYTimes.
livesoft
Posts: 85971
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2007 7:00 pm

Post by livesoft »

@Fallible, unfortunately and sadly, the journalism profession has fallen on hard times.

Local journalists are probably not paid well or they would be able to find people who can spell better and make complete sentences even if using software that does this for you. I'm sure the older journalists did a better job than the young folks nowadays.

If a reporter is any good, they end up working for the national media. And the national media does not need multiple reporters, so we are starting to get all our news filtered through less than a dozen people. My local paper doesn't send reporters anywhere anymore. They simply reprint stories from the NYTimes or AP or Reuters even if the origin is from their own backyard.

You can wish for the good ol' days, but the profession has changed.
User avatar
aainvestor
Posts: 512
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2007 1:12 pm
Location: Northern Virginia

Post by aainvestor »

livesoft wrote: I am happy to oblige. But first, I don't think the newspapers I read necessarily tells you anything about my political leanings. :)
I would have to agree with livesoft. There is no story that's a real story you won't find somewhere in the NYT.
Fallible
Posts: 8795
Joined: Fri Nov 27, 2009 3:44 pm

Post by Fallible »

livesoft wrote:@Fallible, unfortunately and sadly, the journalism profession has fallen on hard times.

Local journalists are probably not paid well or they would be able to find people who can spell better and make complete sentences even if using software that does this for you. I'm sure the older journalists did a better job than the young folks nowadays.

If a reporter is any good, they end up working for the national media. And the national media does not need multiple reporters, so we are starting to get all our news filtered through less than a dozen people. My local paper doesn't send reporters anywhere anymore. They simply reprint stories from the NYTimes or AP or Reuters even if the origin is from their own backyard.

You can wish for the good ol' days, but the profession has changed.
The only point I can agree on here is the first - that journalism has fallen on hard times. And it is happening at a time when the country needs good journalism more than ever. Every time I read about more massive layoffs in the industry, I think of the stories that won’t be reported, especially investigative pieces that require more time, more staff, and larger budgets. And what the public doesn’t know, will hurt them.
Harold
Posts: 3154
Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2007 6:50 pm
Location: San Francisco

Post by Harold »

3CT_Paddler wrote:
yobria wrote:
3CT_Paddler wrote:This thread is going to have a difficult time remaining unlocked, because it is one step away from political discourse.
I'd say this is a topic a mature adult could discuss without working himself into a political frenzy. If not, perhaps a vacation is in order...

Nick
I am just saying that certain topics have a tendency to gravitate toward's politics... and this is one of them... regardless of the maturity of the members of this board. And the whole WSJ vs NY Times preference is really just a veiled vote on where your political allegiences lie.
Probably more accurate to say that a reflexive dismissal of the NY Times is a vote on where the dismisser's political allegiance lies.

The NY Times itself is just too good to objectively dismiss. Excellent writing, thorough coverage, etc. I happen to like the Wall Street Journal too.
Post Reply