It’s no secret that I’m a bit of a news junkie, especially in the written medium.
I’ve always prided myself in how I multi-source every big story to hit and try to engage in all points of an argument. To that end, I consume sources that might surprise you but in the end, gives me more perspective to form an opinion.
I don’t know if this a thing that’s occurring everywhere, or maybe we’re just slow to the game here in Canada, but over the last few weeks, a large amount of my go-to news sites are going behind a paywall.
And while it’s going to force me to cut down on my news sources a bit, I’ll no doubt get by and subscribe to a few of them.
All this has led me to a frightening realization though.
While I have the luxury of paying a few bucks here and there for article access, a vast majority of people don’t, especially in this economy where a strawberry costs 12 dollars.
What will those people do?
Well, while BBC, CNN, New York Times and others are paid access, sites like americannazipatriot are still free to access. Information that serves the public good is is gate kept, while the flood of shite that propels extremesm is out there for the whole world to gobble up.
It’s concerning to say the least.
That said, there has never been a stronger argument for more publicly funded broadcasters and media outlets.
The news shouldn’t be a business, it should be a public service.
So tell me, what news sites do you currently read? Both free and behind a paywall?
-sohmer