Ten reasons why you should give someone a newspaper subscription
It’ll be here before you know it. So if you’re in need of a few ideas on what to give (or in some cases, what to put on your own list) this year, this is the place to be for the next couple weeks. Our annual 12 days of Dappered covers one item each week-day between now and December 20th. That’ll leave some time for shipping if you’re the last minute type. All will be reasonably affordable. See the growing archive here.
- Morning coffee tastes better with a newspaper in your hands.
- There’s plenty of sports news and opinions without the mindless sports-talk radio yelling.
- Because print, even at the local level, is one of the few places you can still consistently find real journalism. Not on TV, not on radio, but in print. And print journalism seems to reduce corruption. At least they’re the ones that do the most nosing around. According to a study from the Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, “the lower the free circulation of newspapers in a country, the higher it stands on the corruption index.”
- You can’t start your charcoal chimney with an iPad.
- Sunday edition = best way to ramp up to the NFL games.
- Bathrooms in a home with a newspaper subscription are 92% more interesting than those without.
- When it comes to kids: Comics Section > Cartoons
- Some days the mailbox is nothing but bills. The paper is a nice daily (or weekly) delivery you can count on.
- Staring at a screen gets old after awhile. Real old.
- Because it looks pretty smart under your arm on the way into work.
Like anything else, Newspaper subscription prices will vary by location, which paper you want to get (or give) and how often you want it. Check with your local paper to see what their options are. Go here for the NYT. Here for WSJ. And for any over-reacting comments about which paper you should get due to political slant, well, you can shove those in your ear hole. The two shown are just examples.
100% agree. Never thought of it as a gift idea, but I’d love if someone got me a subscription as a present.
Hmm; causal arrow on that corruption/circulation number pretty much points the other way, I’d think. Good reasons else, but that one’s shady.
Couldn’t agree more. I am fortunate to live in area where they hand out free dailies put out by the Washington Post and Washington Examiner. It is the perfect amount of reading for my train ride into the office. On Sundays I enjoy reading the New York Times and full Washington Post. Another use for the read paper besides kindling is to put it down while you polish your shoes while watching football.
For the love of God, not the WSJ. Not if you ever expect to have a decent conversation with that person again. (I was foolish enough to sign my dad up for a WSJ subscription. Now he spends his days reading WSJ, watching Fox News, and listening to Rush Limbaugh. Every time he tries to provoke a political “discussion,” I just stare at him blankly until he gives it up. It’s the only way to maintain a working relationship.)
I’m not trying to “over-react” about “political slant” either. There’s much to criticize about all of today’s political journalism. I’m just saying, be wary of what you give to whom.
With all due respect, totally disagree with this one, Joe. I appreciate your reasons, but I’ve consumed all of my news via the web these days; this would be a complete waste for someone to gift to me. All they would be giving me is a chore, in carrying it from the curb to my table, watching them stack up all week as my guilt over not reading them mounts, then carrying a stack out to the recycle bin.
YES. I do this too. The using it for floor cover while polishing shoes. Excellent point.
Ah, well… if your pops was headed in that direction, then he was headed in that direction. I’ve got acquaintances who try and provoke political discussions on BOTH sides. Liberal, and Conservative. And I totally agree. It’s irritating to say the least. But yeah, newspapers man. They don’t cast spells.
You should TOTALLY email the people who did the study 🙂
And that’s just fine. Not every gift will work for everyone. It’s easily top 5 best gifts ever given to me, all time. I’m a big fan of disconnecting every once in awhile (or, like, every day) The newspaper gives me that opportunity.
You should TOTALLY email the people who did the study 🙂 It is admitted as such:
“Such studies cannot prove a causal connection, or predict the effects of
diminished news coverage in the future–but there are other grounds for
concern.”
That said, after working in the media for awhile? It’s honestly the paper folks who are the workhorses.
Don’t ever become friends with a libertarian; we can annoy everyone with
our clearly superior logic and moral position, and therefore can argue
with both “main” sides equally effectively. 😉
I’m a communitarian socialist. Your “logic” is a self-perpetuating white patriarchal heteronormative capitalist construct and does not bind me in any way. 😉
Touché.
I’ll take every gift. They’ll work out fine for me.
That’s a good idea. Another good one would be foreign policy journals (for those who are interested in such things) like American Scholar, Harper’s Magazine, The Economist, Wilson Quarterly, Foreign Affairs just to name drop. Excellent writing, for the most part, and has well thought out articles.
Totally agree on Harper’s Magazine. I’ve never felt as smart as when I had a subscription to it.
Thumbs up for Harper’s, The Atlantic Monthly, The Economist, and the New Yorker!
That is basically saying, “Hey, you’re an uninformed slob that could use a peek at today’s headlines.”
Pffft! Hardly man. C’mon now. Don’t be so quick to take offense.
I would rather have the WSJ than the NYT. Just saying.
Seems like this board is full of liberals. I’m fine with that. Just drop the Atlantic, you can keep the NYT since I greatly prefer WSJ.. The Economist is starting to wither and turn like TIMES, hope it doesn’t, so I’ll be just flipping through it when I pass news stands. Harper’s is a guilty pleasure of mine.
Hell no. Stephen Colbert wouldnt approve and neither do I.
Hey hey, that’s just the right libertarians. Leave us left libertarians alone.
So if you get someone shoes, you’re basically saying “you have no shoes and need some?” Newspapers have more value than getting up-to-date on current events. There’s value in just reading them, enjoyment in the stories and the writing, just like a novel. Gifts aren’t always “you looked like you needed this”, but often “I thought you’d appreciate something like this”. More often, actually.
Funny how this post spurred so much political discussion. It is important to understand the biases each publication has, since it allows you to take their interpretation of the truth with a grain of salt. But, people like Jill are interesting — they don’t read what they’re OPPOSED to, they read what they agree with. A study (I forget which, and I hate doing that, I know…) showed that many people who buy books on controversial topics (theism vs. atheism; liberal vs. conservative, etc.) will typically by the books that REINFORCE the ideas they already have. When really, it makes sense to see the other point of view, in order to engage in that sort of Hegelian dialectic of thesis-antithesis-synthesis that’ll bring us closer to the truth. If you know someone likes WSJ, why not get them a sub to NYT, in virtue of its liberal bias?
Agreed that it’s funny that this spurred political discussion. Especially after the post closed with this: ” And for any over-reacting comments about which paper you should get
due to political slant, well, you can shove those in your ear hole. “
I see WSJ, NYT, etc. thrown around. I like this idea a lot as a gift. I personally cancelled my local newspaper sub for the fact I had no time to read it. However, this has got me thinking about re-upping.
My question is, to what?! I found my local NP to be fairly boring. Perhaps I should just pick up USA Today, NYT, WSJ, whatever else I can find available and test the waters?
I’d like a broad range of information. Any long time subs that are die hard in their choice?
Not all of us are liberals.
I’m not sure why you’re picking on me Justin since I never gave a reason why I did not prefer the NYT. Out of all the journals I’ve posted, mine is the most balanced, so let me defend myself. WSJ is conservative for the most part while Harper’s Mag. is liberal. The Economist is said to be the neutral. Wilson Quartely and Foreign Affairs consist of foreign policy articles that run the political spectrum. So please, don’t accuse me of not taking in the liberal slant since I give it its due. The only strong opinion I have posted is my somewhat annoying heralding of the WSJ over the NYT.
Now, Justin, what do you read?
In terms of article quality and writing, USA Today is horrible. The other two you’ve mentioned are well written for the most part and provide decent information.
Stop, move on, and thanks.