Is Time Magazine worth subscribing to?
I used to get Time Magazine some years ago, before the internet took off and became more timely. I read other magazines (paper and online) during the course of the week, and I feel reasonably conversant on current events.
One of the reasons I stopped subscribing to Time was that it was slow – everything was a week late – and it tended to have features rather than news reports. Also, there were too many ads for old-peoples’ prescription drugs – the magazine could have been an adjunct of the AARP because of all the ads.
Yesterday’s mail brought a solicitation from Time – a year for $20. The price is OK.
Has their quality gotten any better? is there any more heft / substance to their news reporting?
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14 Answers
It is a lot better than it was 12 or 15 years ago, when traditional magazines went through the Big Contraction and before they figured out how to co-exist with the internet.
The ad base isn’t that much better, but that isn’t a strong reason to choose a magazine. The articles are useful in reflecting on news events, which the 24 hour news cycle makes much more difficult. It is actually refreshing to not be reacting to the latest soundbite/home made video, but rather to consider the totality of a situation.
I find almost nothing worth subscribing to, nowadays. I read the NY Times online thanks to a relative’s password. I used to subscribe to The New Yorker, which I love, but which is about 50 bucks a year for once a week, plus online. I barely read it online and I barely read it in printed form. Although I really enjoy The New Yorker, it’s hard for me to justify spending any money on something I barely read, and frequently ends up in an unread pile of magazines. I also have gotten subscriptions for other magazines for very cheap (i.e. $5 per year) but they, too, go unread. Between my job and family obligations plus online stuff (Fluther and Facebook mostly), plus a book group, magazines are last to get my attention.
I’ve taken it for years, through all it’s ups and downs. I think it’s found it’s media niche.
Meh….I’m the Smithsonian girl here. I’d much rather read about amazing science and historical stuff than current events and politics. Fill your mind with wonder not plunder. lol
Excuse my “it’s” for “its.”
@Pachy I thought elephants were known for their long memories. haha
@Coloma, I don’t remember ever saying that! Heehee.
Does that subscription fee automatically include the online edition automatically as well as the print or is the online edition charged separately?
I rather like reading articles that are more in depth and flesh out a story beyond just the latest headlines so Time, Newsweek, etc do that as well as any other.
Plus, I’m also assuming that their online edition would now carry up to date breaking stories which the print edition could not previously do cuz it was a weekly.
So, I should think you need to investigate further precisely what that subscription fee does or does not include.
@Buttonstc – 52 paper copies plus online plus access to the archive, which goes back a long ways.
Well, IMHO that’s a pretty good deal, especially that the archives are also included.
Every once in a while researching something of interest to me, I’d come across a Time article from the past but couldn’t read more than a few introductory paragraphs. Frustrating.
Maybe you’d like the same mag my mom gets. “The Week.” Maybe you’d like it better than “Time.”
@kritiper – i’ve seen that; they occasionally send samples. I don’t care for it . It seems like there is no article longer than a paragraph. No depth. The Week has its place, just not for me.
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Yes, go for it! $20 per year subscription is worth it.
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