I used to read the NYT, the Post, and the Boston Globe on a daily basis. I dumped the first two but kept the Globe, my local paper. But I now depend on Substack for the news, which is the first thing I turn to each morning. Heather Cox Richardson, Joyce Vance, the Bulwark, you, and a few others. Then if I have time I'll read the Globe's coverage, and it is likely not covering stories I think are important at all (weekend protests in DC -hello?!?!) or sane washing the #DirtyOldMan and his monsters. Thanks for what you do.
Me too. And it is sad to acknowledge the decline of old friends. My mornings are now on substack and I look to the Globe for local news. But I actually bought the NYT on Sunday because of its story on respiratory illnesses and deaths among wildfire fighters. Matt Desmond’s first book was about them and I still feel like I know their lives. This was a shocking story and DID get front page treatment. But in the maelstrom of destruction and gutting of federal depts of health and labor, I doubt anyone is focusing on this specific killing policy.
Wonder why but hasn't done stories and investigative journalism on the endless deaths from mRNA shots.... Oh yeah that's their primary funding for source--Pharma?
Substack etc are not a replacement for news. They are commentators. Opinion pages. We need to support news organizations who send reporters on the ground and interview real people. Like the Globe and WaPo, but insist they improve.
I'm saving my money to support ProPublica, Mother Jones, and the Guardian, all of whom do that ground-level work without having to kowtow to the business moguls running things.
My Dad was raised on Lakawanna too. It is a place that allows for the development of enough grit to make your life matter. He walked across Belgium and France Into Germany to stop the same forces we see arising here today. I am not sure what right move I made to have you show up in my inbox today. I am delighted by the gift of your view. By the generosity of your intelligence. I will find a few bucks for you. Thank you
Another lapsed NYT reader here. I know I'm missing a lot, especially in terms of world and domestic (non-political) news, but I just can't take the equivocations, the sane-washing, etc.
Re media coverage of the summit (excluding MAGA/FOX, of course), what I found disheartening was the pre-summit hype: anchors breathless describing the "high stakes," the "25% chance of failure, says Trump," and so on. Any thinking person knew ahead of time that nothing would come of another pointless Trump exercise in showmanship. Yet the media can't help but play along. Good for ratings, as the cliche goes--not too good for the country.
I am one of the hoards who canceled my Washington Post subscription when the paper scrapped its endorsement of Kamala Harris. I felt, and still feel, deeply ambivalent about it- was I punishing good journalists instead of objecting to Jeff Bezos' management? Would appreciate having your views on this. And thank you for this Substack!
Trust me, as someone who retained my WP subscription, that you acted wisely. The news papers are still turning out decent reports but the Opinion section is tripe of the worst Murdoch order. The editorials are unfit to read.
The Baltimore Banner has just hired five reporters to cover Montgomery County, which is just outside DC. The Post hasn't had that many reporters here in two decades. In fact their current coverage is provided by half of one person who also lives in Baltimore. So I'm going to see how that works out as the WaPost's local coverage is an afterthought at the moment.
I still mainly rely on the Financial Times for international coverage.
Thank you so much for this piece. I too am a Ron Charles fan. You, Charles, and several other journalists along with Ezra Levin and Leah Greenberg keep me going, and that is no small task.
Great prose extract from Ron Charles! Re: Chris Murphy. He has been an articulate and forceful opponent of Trump since Day One of The Kleptocracy. People who say that the Dems are only now waking up to the nightmare, haven't been paying attention to Chris. On Sunday he made a breakthrough by being attacked by name in Trump's pathetic "Truth Social" platform. He said that Murphy was "unattractive... both inside and out..." Projection, thy name is Trump. Let's keep Murph in the spotlight. He would beat any Trumpster in '28 like a rented mule.
For me journalism is a unique form of literature. I think it’s grounded in my love of non-fiction, my love of truth over bullshit. Margaret Sullivan is in the Vanguard of preserving this beautiful thing that we have (or had). Thank you.
Trying to find the positive in media these days is an enormously heavy lift. Hopefully the kids at The Ditch Weekly able to carry that torch.
Without fear or favor has been used as a mantra for centuries in both law and journalism. It is aspirational, but is isn't something that even remotely reflects reality in either any longer. Being of a certain age (66) and of the lucky generation with the best music, I am often reminded of this line from the song Cathedral by Graham Nash, which now applies many domains other than religion. "Too many people have lied in the name of Christ for anyone to heed the call."
I accept we have to keep fighting the good fight, but I think the institutions of yore are done. Let the youngs come in try their hand at it.
I am almost halfway through reading Personal History at long last. I chose to do so for reminders of journalistic bravery and commitments to the public good. Far from perfect, of course, but laudable. As for current hope, I find it almost exclusively in independent media and the voices of a few young journalists not beholden to greedy stockholders.
I share the heartbreak. WaPo is not the institution it was. Everyone should walk out on Bezos. But many can not financially. I don’t share your hope that the old Post can or will be salvaged. It’s beyond depressing to see our institutions of democracy fail, our reporters told what they can’t write and share. It is part of the larger acceleration, the singularity, surveillance capitalism, and the drive towards authoritarianism.
I agree. There should be weekly, if not daily, stories on the destruction of the U.S. civil service and the federal government and the effects of that on the lives of all Americans. Instead, we see mostly exhaustive coverage of Trump’s every insane lie and utterance.
I used to read the NYT, the Post, and the Boston Globe on a daily basis. I dumped the first two but kept the Globe, my local paper. But I now depend on Substack for the news, which is the first thing I turn to each morning. Heather Cox Richardson, Joyce Vance, the Bulwark, you, and a few others. Then if I have time I'll read the Globe's coverage, and it is likely not covering stories I think are important at all (weekend protests in DC -hello?!?!) or sane washing the #DirtyOldMan and his monsters. Thanks for what you do.
Me too. And it is sad to acknowledge the decline of old friends. My mornings are now on substack and I look to the Globe for local news. But I actually bought the NYT on Sunday because of its story on respiratory illnesses and deaths among wildfire fighters. Matt Desmond’s first book was about them and I still feel like I know their lives. This was a shocking story and DID get front page treatment. But in the maelstrom of destruction and gutting of federal depts of health and labor, I doubt anyone is focusing on this specific killing policy.
Wonder why but hasn't done stories and investigative journalism on the endless deaths from mRNA shots.... Oh yeah that's their primary funding for source--Pharma?
Because you have no hard data that backs that up?
Stick to the Epoch Times.
Substack etc are not a replacement for news. They are commentators. Opinion pages. We need to support news organizations who send reporters on the ground and interview real people. Like the Globe and WaPo, but insist they improve.
I'm saving my money to support ProPublica, Mother Jones, and the Guardian, all of whom do that ground-level work without having to kowtow to the business moguls running things.
My Dad was raised on Lakawanna too. It is a place that allows for the development of enough grit to make your life matter. He walked across Belgium and France Into Germany to stop the same forces we see arising here today. I am not sure what right move I made to have you show up in my inbox today. I am delighted by the gift of your view. By the generosity of your intelligence. I will find a few bucks for you. Thank you
Thanks, Annie. Good to have you here!
Best coverage of the “summit” (better referred to as the nadir): Jeff Tiedrich: https://open.substack.com/pub/jefftiedrich/p/putin-played-preznit-fuckwit-like?r=9dq6d&utm_medium=ios
Jeff Tiedrich is the master!
Another lapsed NYT reader here. I know I'm missing a lot, especially in terms of world and domestic (non-political) news, but I just can't take the equivocations, the sane-washing, etc.
Re media coverage of the summit (excluding MAGA/FOX, of course), what I found disheartening was the pre-summit hype: anchors breathless describing the "high stakes," the "25% chance of failure, says Trump," and so on. Any thinking person knew ahead of time that nothing would come of another pointless Trump exercise in showmanship. Yet the media can't help but play along. Good for ratings, as the cliche goes--not too good for the country.
The media has been reduced to a vacuous cheerleader without even the pom-poms.
I am one of the hoards who canceled my Washington Post subscription when the paper scrapped its endorsement of Kamala Harris. I felt, and still feel, deeply ambivalent about it- was I punishing good journalists instead of objecting to Jeff Bezos' management? Would appreciate having your views on this. And thank you for this Substack!
Trust me, as someone who retained my WP subscription, that you acted wisely. The news papers are still turning out decent reports but the Opinion section is tripe of the worst Murdoch order. The editorials are unfit to read.
The Baltimore Banner has just hired five reporters to cover Montgomery County, which is just outside DC. The Post hasn't had that many reporters here in two decades. In fact their current coverage is provided by half of one person who also lives in Baltimore. So I'm going to see how that works out as the WaPost's local coverage is an afterthought at the moment.
I still mainly rely on the Financial Times for international coverage.
Me too. I subscribed in the cheapest way I could and felt like someone took me off the tranqs. Look, a world.
While I would support the journalists, I cannot support any of Bezos' enterprises: not WaPo, not Whole Foods, not Amazon.
Same. I cancelled my annual WaPo before the pulling of the endorsement. The sane-washing was over the top by spring 2024.
Haven’t used Amazon for years. I live in a small rural community and local retailers are suffering hugely because of Amazon.
It s so satisfying to go to local businesses
Thank you so much for this piece. I too am a Ron Charles fan. You, Charles, and several other journalists along with Ezra Levin and Leah Greenberg keep me going, and that is no small task.
Great prose extract from Ron Charles! Re: Chris Murphy. He has been an articulate and forceful opponent of Trump since Day One of The Kleptocracy. People who say that the Dems are only now waking up to the nightmare, haven't been paying attention to Chris. On Sunday he made a breakthrough by being attacked by name in Trump's pathetic "Truth Social" platform. He said that Murphy was "unattractive... both inside and out..." Projection, thy name is Trump. Let's keep Murph in the spotlight. He would beat any Trumpster in '28 like a rented mule.
For me journalism is a unique form of literature. I think it’s grounded in my love of non-fiction, my love of truth over bullshit. Margaret Sullivan is in the Vanguard of preserving this beautiful thing that we have (or had). Thank you.
Trying to find the positive in media these days is an enormously heavy lift. Hopefully the kids at The Ditch Weekly able to carry that torch.
Without fear or favor has been used as a mantra for centuries in both law and journalism. It is aspirational, but is isn't something that even remotely reflects reality in either any longer. Being of a certain age (66) and of the lucky generation with the best music, I am often reminded of this line from the song Cathedral by Graham Nash, which now applies many domains other than religion. "Too many people have lied in the name of Christ for anyone to heed the call."
I accept we have to keep fighting the good fight, but I think the institutions of yore are done. Let the youngs come in try their hand at it.
I am almost halfway through reading Personal History at long last. I chose to do so for reminders of journalistic bravery and commitments to the public good. Far from perfect, of course, but laudable. As for current hope, I find it almost exclusively in independent media and the voices of a few young journalists not beholden to greedy stockholders.
Superb writer!
The single best thing I've read re the Putin/Trump "summit" is from James Fallows, my go-to source for reliably smart, thoughtful analysis:
https://fallows.substack.com/p/trump-in-anchorage-a-humiliation?utm_campaign=email-half-post&r=1mh1c&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
I share the heartbreak. WaPo is not the institution it was. Everyone should walk out on Bezos. But many can not financially. I don’t share your hope that the old Post can or will be salvaged. It’s beyond depressing to see our institutions of democracy fail, our reporters told what they can’t write and share. It is part of the larger acceleration, the singularity, surveillance capitalism, and the drive towards authoritarianism.
Substack. HCR, Snyder, Ben-Ghiat, Krugman, Sullivan, J. Vance. & Books!
Legacy media is as captured as Congress. None are doing the job of serving the public.
I agree. There should be weekly, if not daily, stories on the destruction of the U.S. civil service and the federal government and the effects of that on the lives of all Americans. Instead, we see mostly exhaustive coverage of Trump’s every insane lie and utterance.