The New York Times is arguably the nations newspaper of record (more Californians subscribe to the NYTimes than New Yorkers). I’d expect lots of people who value being well read to have subscriptions.
A safe bet is to assume that someone doesn't have a NYTimes subscription, no matter how much they value being well read.
This is saying more about the political affinities of both Californians and NY Times than about the quality of the newspaper.