Austin Statesman Newspaper (Howe: city hall, hotel, purchases)

[UKjay]

One of the many good things about the UK is the newspapers; we love to read the paper. A weekly subscription was one of our luxuries at 48GBP/month, nonetheless there is/was so much to read. There are many papers from which to choose. It looks like the Statesman is the only option in Austin. Any opinions? Is it worth a subscription?

For grins this is from The Guardian on who reads which newspaper:

The Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country,
The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country.
The Times is read by people who actually do run the country.
The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country.
The Financial Times is read by people who own the country.
The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country.
The Daily Telegraph is read by people who think it is.

[Moonlady]

Most American cities only have one daily newspaper. Some of the larger cities may have 2. The Austin American Statesman is Austin's only daily paper. Well, there is the UT student-run paper the Daily Texan, but it is primarily targeted at the UT students. There are several smaller weekly publications, the biggest being the Austin Chronicle which has a reputation for being an alternative style publication.

Apparently, a lot of people are turning to online news and the printed papers are in decline. I like sitting down with a cup of coffee and the daily newspaper but that trend seems to be going away.

[atlanta hope]

Most people I know that like to read papers read the NY Times or Wall Street Journal instead of their local one.

[CptnRn]

We subscribe, its a decent paper and we still enjoy reading the paper rather then online. I read it for local and state news, I watch CNN for national and world news.

[centralaustinite]

I get both the Statesman and the NY Times daily! Talk about a luxury, I also follow several news site on-line but I enjoy reading the paper version. The Statesman can be an uneven paper, although I think that it is better than it has been in the past. I read it mainly for their coverage of local issues and local business coverage. The Austin Chronicle (weekly free alternative paper) has excellent coverage of City Hall and micro-level politics. The Texas Observer (weekly subscription) is a progressive paper with great investigative reporting state-wide.

As a grad student at UT, I read the NY Times because when a prof said "did you see the article in the paper" they always meant the times. As soon as I became a property owner, I started reading the Statesman to understand local and regional news. When I started reading the Observer, I realized that Texas was my home, warts and all!

Texas Monthly is also a great read and they always have good deals on subscriptions.

[UKjay]

Thanks for all the good information!!

CentralAustinite: Excellent info; the NYT in print everyday, that sounds good. I've scanned the Statesman online and look forward to the print version. Also, I read online news trying to sort out facts instead of opinions, but who knows what is really true anymore I'm not particularly liberal or conservative, so I try not to judge a paper by it's reputation. Although I will admit to going light on my purchases of The Guardian, one thorough read and I'd want to go back to bed and wait for the end. They were often decidedly gloomy on the future of the world in general.

I also love paper, books, magazine, newsprint....I'm afraid I'll be a latecomer to the Kindle or EBooks.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by UKjay

One of the many good things about the UK is the newspapers; we love to read the paper. A weekly subscription was one of our luxuries at 48GBP/month, nonetheless there is/was so much to read. There are many papers from which to choose. It looks like the Statesman is the only option in Austin. Any opinions? Is it worth a subscription?

For grins this is from The Guardian on who reads which newspaper:

The Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country,
The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country.
The Times is read by people who actually do run the country.
The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country.
The Financial Times is read by people who own the country.
The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country.
The Daily Telegraph is read by people who think it is.

We only get the sunday paper but they call us several times a year to give us the whole week for no extra charge (for a year?). We did it once but we ended up throwing them all away because I mostly read it online.

However, the point is you should be able to negotiate a very cheap deal.

[UKjay]

Cheap deal! Oh yes, after living in the land of the "pound" with compensation in dollars...that 48GPB newspaper bill was for most of our stay $96/month. Maybe the NYT and the Statesman for $96
Of course, my luck is I'll pay for a year in advance and the Statesman will "go under."

[doctorjef]

You are comparing apples and oranges, because the UK has a national press, whereas the US operates basically on local press. Wall Street Journal is an exception to this, roughly equivalent to the Financial Times. Another exception is the absolutely insipid USA Today, which is news-lite and exists mostly to be given out to hotel guests. The NY Times does, of course, have a national edition that they push heavily through tv advertising, especially the weekend edition. However, IMO the NY Times isn't that much fun if you're not in NYC and getting the whole paper with all its locally relevant advertising. I think you'll find the Austin American-Statesman most useful. However, don't forget to read the Austin Chronicle, which comes out weekly and costs nothing.

[Trainwreck20]

Heh, I read the BBC online