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Comment by ellyagg | Hacker News Reader

It's not like there are alternatives. The Times has let blatant editorializing sneak onto the front page and throughout every section for as long as I've been reading it, and its the paper of record. Read The Economist.

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> Read The Economist.

The Economist produces good content, but it's all editorializing, all the time. Articles aren't even attributed to their authors - they just spring fully formed from The Economist's notional forehead.

That's my biggest criticism of the economist, that the content is not attributed to any author.

I love the content but it's kind of a bizarre approach to journalism to keep the authorship anonymous.

I can't imagine what their rationale is or why their obviously sharp staff stands for it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Economist#Tone_and_voice

The articles likely have multiple authors that contribute to making them high quality and very concise. Nothing I read comes close to The Economist, so whatever they are doing, I works well. Also, being much more expensive than other magazines, they can afford to hang on to talent when others are shedding it.

The downside is potential for groupthink, which was clearly in evidence in the run-up to the Iraq War, which The Economist cheered on alongside the rest of the mainstream media.

Fair enough, but I think you pretty much have to read all news with an eye toward that outlet's particular editorial slant, and I'd just as well have editorializing upfront with the Economist instead of under the guise of being purely impartial.

Even when I don't agree with them, it's always an enlightening read.

Absolutely. I love the Economist in its way, but just for once I'd like to see them write an article where they admit that they don't have any idea what should be done.

That's what's so great about it. I don't want the author(s) of an article to reinforce a particular personality, as seen in so many other papers/magazines where the writers are trying to build a public brand around themselves. I find no difficulty in separating the reportage from the editorial viewpoint. That element is always present anyway, and I'd rather have it clearly articulated.

Yup, but at least they're blatant and out in the open about their editorial slant (pro-globalization). They don't pretend to be "impartial".

Investor's Business Daily is a good alternative to the Journal.

I appreciate all of the data they include (even if most of it is processed using their proprietary metrics), but their articles aren't so great. They seem to take the attitude that articles are just filler - they rerun articles pretty regularly. But their data is extensive and relevant.

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