All media sucks right now. They all want you to pay, to subscribe.

[Brenda]

This includes most of the progressive websites I've read for years.

I never signed up for Facebook and it seems like that's where so many people get their "free" and "shitty" and "just fucking wrong" news. Along with X, TikTok, etc. "news."

And now the left/progressive sites are less accessible, well...we are truly fucked.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. Do you expect them to work for free?

Do you work for free?

[Brenda]

4. How did all of these websites manage before today?

Clearly they did not work for free before.

It is a noose around free information to require people to pay or give up their personal info just to read an article.

[malaise]

11. On,y the spreaders of misinformation and disinformation

are free these days

[Igel]

19. Advertising.

Use an ad-block extension? I do.

That means ad revenue doesn't fly as much.

Plus with a million sources clamoring for ad revenue and only so many consumers, ad revenue depends more strongly on clicks ... Which also tend to spread out a bit.

[senseandsensibility]

2. I would like to recommend nbcnews.com

Great news site with good solid journalism. No charges that I have run into anyway. Wide variety of news topics and reasonably balanced political coverage.

[Brenda]

5. Thanks. There are a few news sites still free.

Does GE still own NBC?

[ForgedCrank]

3. As far

as I'm concerned, they can KEEP wanting. Maybe if I'm lucky, they will all hold their breath until I pay.
They are all full of infection and have done this to themselves. Their viewer count has plummeted because all they do is spread propaganda, half-truths, and click bait. that makes their advertising slots worth way less than years past and it's all because of their own behavior.

[Brenda]

6. Sounds like you are talking about TV news and mainstream newspaper sites.

If so, I agree!

But I was referring to non-mainstream sites.

[ZDU]

7. NPR is an option

So is:
https://www.democracynow.org/

[Brenda]

8. Thanks ZDU

I'm aware of those two sources.

But the trend where even a place like CounterPunch is subscription only for some articles is just fuckin sad.

I don't think young people will ever pay to read the news.

Devolution in Action.

[ZDU]

9. I wish you the best!

Please don't allow yourself to be defeated. Together we are stronger. Don't give up the ship!

[Brenda]

12. Why?

Last edited Fri Aug 22, 2025, 06:21 AM - Edit history (1)

First AI response I've encountered here at DU (that I know of).

[usonian]

10. When all factual news is paywalled, lies, hate and conspiracy theories will spread for free.

The "digital divide" will grow into a moat with a 50 foot high wall.

People seem to have given up on an unbiased news source. They have been brainwashed by the right wing into thinking that fact is really a bunch of "radical communist lefty pinko lies". And now, CPB is torpedoed.

What's the cost of aggregating actual fact? Less reporters on the ground, very little.
If Wikipedia weren't spammed to hell, requiring constant moderation, it would be a good source, though "wikinews" still exists.
https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Main_Page
However, it's not on the firmest ground.

Wikimedia Foundation considers closing Wikinews
https://thedesk.net/2025/07/wikimedia-foundation-closing-wikinews/
The parent organization of Wikipedia said its sister platform Wikinews doesn't produce enough "well-rounded" news, and most traffic comes from search engine bots.

That said, anyone can aggregate news and the cost to distribute it is near-zero (add bandwidth costs). Recognition? Look at Craig's list. It started out as an email list. Because people liked it, it went viral.

Don't think of competing with Musk and Zuck.
They're peddling shit.
I have zero interest in sites that peddle shit.
I frequent Hacker News, which is run on a shoestring.

If it don't exist, INVENT IT.
Just do it without beautiful announcers and slick radio voices.
We got lots of journalism students needing practice.
Life's not to be lived passively.

[flvegan]

13. Enshittification.

Or at least enshittification adjacent.

My favorites are the ones that you can read IF you sign up for their newsletter or mailing list or some shit. Like, oh yes please I'd love 100 more fucking ads every day!! Here's my email (so excited)! Sell me! Sell me!

Sigh.

[Brenda]

17. Yes, you understand what I'm talking about.

It's not about paying journalists.

[womanofthehills]

14. Most podcasts are free

I listen off of Spotify. They keep asking for money - just ignore them. I like “Breaking Points” for an all around news of the day. They always have a Dem & a Republican. Mainly Kristal Ball and Saagar Enjeti.

[Brenda]

16. Thanks for the info.

But I personally don't listen to podcasts, I read.

My point is that our news sources are shrinking.

And also to point out AI at DU.

[eShirl]

15. there's FreeSpeechTV

https://freespeech.org/live-tv/

[usonian]

18. Quality is worth it. The Onion Brought Back Its Print Edition. The Gamble Is Paying Off.

WSJ, PAYWALLED.
Imperfectly
https://archive.ph/g9UcN

When the Onion’s new owners acquired the satirical publication a year ago, they bet on a dying breed: print subscribers.

It is working.
Filled with spoof ads and satirical headlines that often take swings at the news of the day, the Onion has more than 53,000 subscribers paying as much as $9 a month. The publication has a new deal to sell its papers at Barnes & Noble, and is expecting about $6 million in revenue this year—up from less than $2 million in early 2024.

The Onion isn’t profitable, but Chief Executive Ben Collins aims to turn a profit next year. “People like getting something in the mail that’s not f—ing awful,” he said.

The publication’s results show that old-fashioned media products can find a niche despite changing reader habits and an unforgiving digital landscape.