New York Times
When I was in high school, my younger sister and my mom started doing a paper route. This involved some horrible hours (about 3:30 a.m.) and a lot of riding in the back seat, folding papers as fast as you could, so they could be tossed out the window on to the driveways. I went a few times and I got horribly carsick and threw up in the gutter. Needless to say, I don’t necessarily love the smell of newsprint. (Also, throwing up in the gutter is a pretty good way to make sure you don’t often get asked to deliver newspapers in the middle of the night).
We did, however, enjoy reading the comics every day and I often read the op-eds and letters to the editors in the bathroom while I curled my hair and brushed my teeth.
When I went to college, I was involved in starting up a student organization called “Current Events Student Association.” Somehow, our president wrangled a deal with the New York Times that allowed us get about 200 copies of the Times every day for the school year and then we would deliver them around campus for student consumption. For this, they paid us several hundred dollars a semester (I’m still not quite sure how this all worked out).
I started reading the NYT pretty consistently and I especially fell in love with the op-eds and the editorial page.
Unfortunately, once I left BYU, I didn’t have access to those anymore because the NYT kept the editorial section and comments under tight reign – the dread “TIMES SELECT.” Invariably, I would see a little teaser for an article that interested me and when I’d click on it, a notice would come up telling me that it was “Times Select readers only!” and “Please subscribe for only three million dollars a year” (this second bit may be slightly exaggerated). Regardless, I mourned the loss of my daily Op-Eds.
Then, a few weeks ago, Times Select was discontinued. The New York Times is once again for the common man (assuming the common man has an Internet connection). I now subscribe to the Op-Ed columns for FREE and the two new articles show up every day in my Google Reader. And I do a little victory dance (for somehow, I’ve convinced myself that is was my personal unhappiness that made the NYT change it to free)
I love the NYT Op-Eds. You should too. Read them and rejoice at the brilliance of Thomas Friedman and David Brooks.
I love the New York Times as well, and read it faithfully online even though I really have no interested in any of the local or national papers here in Canada. (Is that bad? I haven’t decided.)
I used to read the Toronto Star for a while at my old school where they used to give them out for free (sort of like the arrangement at BYU, I suppose. They’re trying to hook you while you’re young!), but since I’ve been back at Western, it’s New York Times and the campus newspaper all the way.
In other words, I totally understand your joy.
I too love the Times, but don’t tell my mom–she thinks its one of those “liberal” papers.
I must say though that reading it online is not nearly as satisfying as reading it in person. As it turns out, my univeristy library keeps a copy behind the desk specially for me (at least, I’ve never seen anyone else use it). For ten cents I can copy the crossword puzzle after reading through the paper, and my whole day is made.
I’m also a big fan of the NYT Sunday Magazine! (I only read it online though, unless I can scavenge a free copy somewhere)
Cool! Thanks. I’ve never bothered reading much in the Times because of the aforementioned problem…them not letting you read an article of interest because you aren’t a subscriber. I’m glad they’ve stopped the insanity.
I was SO EXCITED when they got rid of that stupid Times Select thing! I thought it was such a pain in the butt.