I don't know whether my position is morally sound, but it's at least pretty clear in my head:
- I want society to support professional journalism.
- There is an infinity of worthy things to read on the internet. I want to browse content from many sources.
- However, it is no longer the 1990s. People don't choose a single newspaper to be delivered to their houses and open it over the breakfast table.
- Accordingly, I don't want to have to choose a single newspaper to support, like people did in the <=1990s.
- Personally, beyond checking the headlines, I mostly read the news nowadays with a feeling that I'm time-wasting: that I should be spending my time doing something more worthwhile.
- So it really seems that payment has to be per article. Presumably some sort of subscription-based micropayment service: pay $20 a month; can read content from (and thus support) many professional journalists. Something like Blendle. Although when I tried that a year or so ago it didn't offer the type of browsing I was looking for.
Since you asked, here’s my take. I agree with all the issues you have listed. Given the choices I have now, here’s what I do.
1. I pay for nytimes, Washington post, and star tribune. This costs me around $20/month I think. I’ve wasted more on unused Linode servers.
2. I skim the headlines of all of these. Tbh I rarely find something I want to click on on nytimes and Washington post, but I do on star tribune. 3. Then I listen to podcasts. I listen to Minnesota public radio, the economist daily briefing, the intelligence, wsj tech briefing, the journal, up first, and the daily. Even here I look at the description first and see what I want to listen to. The economist and wsj ones are the best, which means I’ll probably be changing who I give money to soon.
I listen to the podcasts that sound interesting while I’m on the treadmill.
I guess I feel like there are enough options that I’ve been able to find something I like, and I give money based on that. Nytimes is a bastion of liberals, and I’m a liberal, but I don’t find it the best for me. There’s definitely some initial investment required to figure out what works for you.
Just pay for a different subscription each year and cycle through, and pirate a but for variety