• If you only want to consume news that someone with a bunch of spare money is willing to pay to have you hear, you’re embarking on a process that eventually leads to you and lots of other people not really knowing what’s going on.

      • Yeah, that’s fair – if there’s a huge variety of news sources posted, so that the model is that you subscribe to /c/news but have to pay $50/month to all sorts of places to actually read the articles (even to subscribe the main sources posted), then it’s a problem.

      • On my screen it says “Mods are encouraging the users to unintentionally undermine journalism as a workable endeavor, when it’s already badly struggling in this country.” What’s yours say?

        • Mine says “Defining journalism as a strictly capitalist endeavor is self-defeating”.

          Few people have the money or wherewithal to subscribe to every small town newspaper in the country, much less the world, just so they can read articles you post. And getting bent out of shape at people trying to live their lives as informed as possible without being squeezed dry of every penny they have is ludicrous.

              •  mozz   ( @mozz@mbin.grits.dev ) OP
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                2 months ago

                You would describe the current state of the US, and the way the majority of the people in it view the world and how they understand what’s going on and what they should do (about climate change, about politics and who to support), to be no problem?

                Or you think that where people get their news and their understanding of the world plays no part in the massive problems that are at work in the country?

                I’m not trying to get into a big back and forth with you about it. You can have your own opinion on those things and you’re welcome to it. But it’s not at all a petty thing (to me at least), and it’s not any kind of outlandish threat – it is the simple present day reality. In my opinion.

                •  gregorum   ( @gregorum@lemm.ee ) 
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                  2 months ago

                  Do you often make yourself feel better by inventing insulting fantasies about the people you talk to online? How could anyone expect to have a reasonable, good faith discourse with someone who speaks to others the way you do?

                  •  mozz   ( @mozz@mbin.grits.dev ) OP
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                    2 months ago

                    Dude I’m super condescending, I know. Sorry if I was coming across insulting which I probably was. But the whole mindset of, we better dodge the paywalls every chance we get, (edit: which, whether it’s intended this way or not, might as well translate to) “lol get fucked people who produce the news who are going out of business left and right” irritates me.

                    I think your mindset of (edit: corrected the quote) “I’ve been having no problem avoiding them for free for decades” and not being interested apparently in looking further into it than that, is harmful. I explained why, probably with more hostility than needed to be there. But I still think it’s harmful.

                    Edit: Made some edits to try to be more fair minded about it

            • Seattle Times is not some bastion of good journalism. They have been known to have a right center bias for a long time. Also, why would anyone outside Seattle pay for the Seattle times? You are hard arguing for a site with a lot of reasons to not pay for it.

          • If you really feel like the Seattle Times knowing your real name is a catastrophe, you can buy one of those Vanilla Visa gift cards and use that for the subscription. I think that’s not necessary, but it’s certainly an option.