A lot of us bemoan the state of the mainstream media. I don't know much about TV, but I do read a lot. The typical newspaper and news magazine do not merit our consideration. Most local dailies, and magazines such as Time and Newsweek are badly written, badly edited, biased, and focus on things of truly monumental global importance like which rock star got busted for which drug charge.
What can we do?
Support the good stuff!
more below the fold
I read a lot. I'm liberal. I like literate writing, solid reporting, and in-depth analysis. The sort of stuff that a lot of people here on daily Kos write, and that most of the MSM doesn't. But it's not all darkness. If you want to read better writing, you have to support better writing. If the journals that publish what we want to read get more subscribers, then there will be more writing that we want to read.
Appearances to the contrary, publishers aren't stupid. They go where the readers are. They want to sell copies and get more money for advertising.
Update [2008-5-18 8:8:56 by plf515]:] as Zwoof notes in a comment, if you buy a product because you saw it in a magazine, it's great to tell the supplier that. That can lead to more ad buys, and help the journal
So, here are some periodicals that I read, and some that have gotten mentioned by readers of [What are you reading: Periodicals .
Here's what I wrote, updated, edited, and with links added. I've deleted the stuff that's special to my profession.
NY Times - the one and only
Foreign Affairs - All about diplomacy, international relations, and so on. More conservative than me, but then, most things are. Mostly lengthy, scholarly articles about topics by renowned experts.
Economist - A newsmagazine from England. Also more conservative than I am, but superb writing, in depth coverage, very good stuff. Time and Newsweek - phooey. This is a newsmagazine for knowledgeable, intelligent people. But remember that they're slanted
NY Review of Books- This one is as liberal as I am, I think. A great journal about books, also includes some essays about current affairs.
Scientific American- Ages ago, this was a great layman's science journal. Then for a while it got so technical that I couldn't read it. It's back to its old format now, and I really like it.
New Scientist
- Another general science magazine. Less scholarly and more general interest than SciAm, more about science in the news. Has provided topics for a couple diaries.
Mother Jones - This one may be MORE liberal than I am. Of the leftie press, this is my favorite.
Science News- A weekly newsmagazine about science. Short articles, and always a few one-paragraph book reviews.
Hightower Lowdown Jim Hightower. Nuff said.
Wilson Quarterly in depth, scholarly writing on a wide variety of topics
Some relevant stuff mentioned by commenters in that diary (not including ones I have, above, or specialist stuff; also not including hometown papers, usually):
The Wall Street Journal
The Atlantic Monthly
Harper's
Der Spiegel
The New Yorker
American Scientist
The Nation
American Prospect
UTNE
National Geographic
Natural History
Washington Post
Consumer Reports
The Progressive
New Republic
New Left Review
Le Monde Diplomatique
UPDATE I have to go for a while, back in an hour or two