What Newspapers I'm Reading These Days

I used to be a newspaper junkie (given that my dad worked for the Sault Star, that's not surprising), but as I've gotten older I find it too hard to read the print editions of most newspapers. The print is just too small for me to manage comfortably, even with strong reading glasses. So I read their online editions, mostly on my phone or tablet.

Earlier this week I noticed that my online New York Times subscription had gone from $4.50 a month to $22. I had a promotional deal that had expired, so I decided to cancel it. When I called, they ended up offering a one year extension at the old price, so I kept it. The Times' Android app seems to have most of the content from the print edition and offers a dark mode that's easy on the eyes and a straightforward, if somewhat old school, navigation system.

I decided to cancel the Toronto Star online subscription, which is about $16 a month. I'm not finding a lot in it of interest, and I can read it through TPL's PressReader service.

Then I looked at the Globe and Mail, which I've been wanting to read for a while and is not available through PressReader. They have a promo deal for $1.50/week for a year, so I subscribed to that.

I'm impressed with the Globe's online edition. You can download it as a reproduction of the print edition in which each headline links to a more readable text-only format. Or you can go to a website, which is a proprietary version of PressReader, making it easy to scan through and read. There's no comparison in the content between the Globe and the Star; there's much more in the Globe and their articles are more in-depth (although I do prefer the Star's editorial slant).

I also have a subscription to the Washington Post through Amazon Prime. Their Android app is also quite slick, although I don't think it includes everything that's in the print edition, and my account doesn't work on their web site. At only $1.25/month, it's the cheapest of my subscriptions. I'll drop that if and when the price goes up, but at that price it's worth it just for their political coverage. It's also available on PressReader.

Speaking of PressReader, they have a huge selection of newspapers and magazines. Toronto Public Library offers it, but not the Pickering Public Library, so I'll have to keep my TPL library card active.