Like you, I started reading the WSJ in college. It is not the same newspaper it once was. I have dropped my subscription a few different times, only to try it again and be disappointed again.
The last time I resubscribed it was because it was so inexpensive to do so.
I still check in on it to see what they are covering, but only briefly.
The reporting was always a bit left-of-center, but that was okay. Today its reporting is like all the other crap out there.
Journalism has self-selected for the left. If you were conservative or middle-of-the-road, would you want to get into an industry where your coworkers are unhinged activists who would ruin you as soon as they got the chance?
Maybe I’m wrong, but I think the reporting at the WSJ was left-of-center, maybe not as far left as the NYT or WaPo, but definitely left-of-center. I always kind of assumed the Journal was conservative/libertarian on the op-ed page (Robert Bartley!) and left-of-center in its reporting.
Of course now it is much further left in its reporting.
James Taranto is Editorial Features editor in charge of Op-Eds. He is terrific. When he did Best of the Web, it was the first thing I read everyday (came out at 5pm though, if I recall, so not really first)
It was balanced news during the Bancroft era... the conservatism was on the Editorial Page. But then again, my eyes are more open that they were then....
Agreed. I've become even more addicted to X since 1/20. Even most websites can't keep up. I can't imagine being chained to something printed on dead trees. Substack is a close second.
I have digital only subscription to WSJ. Whenever it goes over $10 per month I cancel and wait for the “please come back” email and price goes back down.
Why would you want to make loyal customers work that hard for your product? Yea, I know, price discrimination etc, etc. But there was an HBR article ages ago where they found the best indicator of LONG term profitability and returns was Customer Sat, not quarterly results.
I cancelled my subscription I held since 2001 in 2022 after a two week non-stop blasting on the front page about climate change and “green energy”. That was all I could take. The newsroom and the opinion page are two completely different silos, and the newsroom people lost all my respect. And half of the Op-Ed writers, like Greg Ip, were also annoying.
I dropped my subscription after the 2020 election. Their coverage was so biased I became disgusted.
My observation is that most of the writers are not just extremely biased, but they lack basic understanding of business, economics, or for that matter, politics. Doesn't make sense to pay a premium for sloppy at best coverage. I do miss Kim Strassel, James Taranto and Jason Riley. But all are frequently linked on Real Clear Politics.
It is more than the $$, it is also my time investment that causes me no regret in canceling the subscription.
Agree on your list. Fortunate to have met two of the three, and I had a couple of comments by Taranto in Best of the Web way back. Save the money to go to conferences where they appear: You local version of Steamboat Institute and Leadership Program of the Rockies.
I too started reading it in college- it was the bible for my years in the NYC Wall Street world but it also had some of the best writers on all topics in the business. It is something I never really cared to digest digitally because of how I came up reading in the paper. I would get my WSJ, get on the R train in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, and read it all the way into the city before work.
I read only the opinion section, in digital form. Many times the comments are more informative and interesting than the op-eds. That said I too will be letting my subscription lapse.
Me too, Mr. Carter. I've had a sub since law school. I just retired. I used to love the WSJ but like you became dissatisfied. Surprisingly, I don't miss it at all.
It's not at all the WSJ, but for long-form articles as a broadsheet paper, I strongly recommend County Highway. https://www.countyhighway.com/
Many articles remind me of the front-page column on the right or left side (my memory fails, or perhaps it changed around), which in my youth was the only article I'd read from my dad's WSJ. You'll see what I mean if you check the website. Long after I'd gone out in the world, I would come home every time to a stack of issues and articles he had saved for me. I wanted to keep the subscription going after he passed, but it had already 'evolved' too much for me by then.
I had ac$1/month special subscription that ended and let lapse. They then came back with a $4/month. I did it but only in the hope that the editorial board finally comes to its senses. Not likely but continue to hope. I did get a survey and only too happy to tell them how the Murdoch boys have destroyed them.
Forgot where I read it this week, but I saw an interesting article about more and more smaller conservative news sources gaining traction in the past couple weeks and that's good to see, because in the past decade I have found conservative news sources that were once scorned by many to be the only place I could go to get accurate reporting.
Unfortunately, the semi-rag that many of us on the exchange floors used to refer to as the Wall Street Urinal has become less about reporting and more about pushing an agenda than ever before. Just this guy's opinion, but pretty much ever since Clinton 2 it has deteriorated to a level of becoming a hollow shell of what it once was decades ago.
I am quite content to peruse news aggregator sites from around the world and occasionally read a story or two a day from WSJ or WSU 😄👏💯
Like you, I started reading the WSJ in college. It is not the same newspaper it once was. I have dropped my subscription a few different times, only to try it again and be disappointed again.
The last time I resubscribed it was because it was so inexpensive to do so.
I still check in on it to see what they are covering, but only briefly.
The reporting was always a bit left-of-center, but that was okay. Today its reporting is like all the other crap out there.
i never found it left of center before. Noticed it pretty anti-Trump, and lefty in the last two years.
Journalism has self-selected for the left. If you were conservative or middle-of-the-road, would you want to get into an industry where your coworkers are unhinged activists who would ruin you as soon as they got the chance?
Maybe I’m wrong, but I think the reporting at the WSJ was left-of-center, maybe not as far left as the NYT or WaPo, but definitely left-of-center. I always kind of assumed the Journal was conservative/libertarian on the op-ed page (Robert Bartley!) and left-of-center in its reporting.
Of course now it is much further left in its reporting.
James Taranto is Editorial Features editor in charge of Op-Eds. He is terrific. When he did Best of the Web, it was the first thing I read everyday (came out at 5pm though, if I recall, so not really first)
Totally agree!
It was balanced news during the Bancroft era... the conservatism was on the Editorial Page. But then again, my eyes are more open that they were then....
Agreed. I've become even more addicted to X since 1/20. Even most websites can't keep up. I can't imagine being chained to something printed on dead trees. Substack is a close second.
I have digital only subscription to WSJ. Whenever it goes over $10 per month I cancel and wait for the “please come back” email and price goes back down.
Why would you want to make loyal customers work that hard for your product? Yea, I know, price discrimination etc, etc. But there was an HBR article ages ago where they found the best indicator of LONG term profitability and returns was Customer Sat, not quarterly results.
I cancelled my subscription I held since 2001 in 2022 after a two week non-stop blasting on the front page about climate change and “green energy”. That was all I could take. The newsroom and the opinion page are two completely different silos, and the newsroom people lost all my respect. And half of the Op-Ed writers, like Greg Ip, were also annoying.
Oh… and another good reason to let it lapse… they’re evil people: https://x.com/anc_aesthetics/status/1887706537893716390?s=46
I dropped my subscription after the 2020 election. Their coverage was so biased I became disgusted.
My observation is that most of the writers are not just extremely biased, but they lack basic understanding of business, economics, or for that matter, politics. Doesn't make sense to pay a premium for sloppy at best coverage. I do miss Kim Strassel, James Taranto and Jason Riley. But all are frequently linked on Real Clear Politics.
It is more than the $$, it is also my time investment that causes me no regret in canceling the subscription.
Agree on your list. Fortunate to have met two of the three, and I had a couple of comments by Taranto in Best of the Web way back. Save the money to go to conferences where they appear: You local version of Steamboat Institute and Leadership Program of the Rockies.
Substack is my daily newspaper…
I do subscribe to The Free Press.
You need news, opinion, sports, weather, the arts, cooking, financial info to get a balanced view…
I too started reading it in college- it was the bible for my years in the NYC Wall Street world but it also had some of the best writers on all topics in the business. It is something I never really cared to digest digitally because of how I came up reading in the paper. I would get my WSJ, get on the R train in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, and read it all the way into the city before work.
I use citizenfreepress.com. They aggregate the news day like Drudge but conservative
Remember when Drudge was conservative? Then he sold to PE. The bastards!
Yep, it is probably getting its funding from U.S.A.I.D. like Politico and the NYSlimes.
It would explain its globalist position of the last 20 years.
Your contributions here are far more beneficial to your country than spending any time reading those that do not like you.
Hadn't thought of that (USG funding), but it's a good hunch.
I read only the opinion section, in digital form. Many times the comments are more informative and interesting than the op-eds. That said I too will be letting my subscription lapse.
There are good commenters from time to time
Me too, Mr. Carter. I've had a sub since law school. I just retired. I used to love the WSJ but like you became dissatisfied. Surprisingly, I don't miss it at all.
It's not at all the WSJ, but for long-form articles as a broadsheet paper, I strongly recommend County Highway. https://www.countyhighway.com/
Many articles remind me of the front-page column on the right or left side (my memory fails, or perhaps it changed around), which in my youth was the only article I'd read from my dad's WSJ. You'll see what I mean if you check the website. Long after I'd gone out in the world, I would come home every time to a stack of issues and articles he had saved for me. I wanted to keep the subscription going after he passed, but it had already 'evolved' too much for me by then.
Those were great columns
He also saved the weekend crossword puzzles for me. A great dad is a blessing forever.
I am considering the same. I’d like to see the WSJ Editorial Board move en masse to Substack, maybe to The Free Press.
I had ac$1/month special subscription that ended and let lapse. They then came back with a $4/month. I did it but only in the hope that the editorial board finally comes to its senses. Not likely but continue to hope. I did get a survey and only too happy to tell them how the Murdoch boys have destroyed them.
Forgot about Murdoch.
Forgot where I read it this week, but I saw an interesting article about more and more smaller conservative news sources gaining traction in the past couple weeks and that's good to see, because in the past decade I have found conservative news sources that were once scorned by many to be the only place I could go to get accurate reporting.
Unfortunately, the semi-rag that many of us on the exchange floors used to refer to as the Wall Street Urinal has become less about reporting and more about pushing an agenda than ever before. Just this guy's opinion, but pretty much ever since Clinton 2 it has deteriorated to a level of becoming a hollow shell of what it once was decades ago.
I am quite content to peruse news aggregator sites from around the world and occasionally read a story or two a day from WSJ or WSU 😄👏💯
Spot-on, and superb as usual. Thank you. The younger generations are creating a rats nest of myopic mediocrity, at their peril.