199 Comments
Oct 27Liked by Elliot Kirschner

Cancelled WaPo subscription today. I guess cancelling Amazon Prime subscription comes next.

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Cancelled Amazon Prime two days ago. Never have subscribed to WaPo or LATimes. Won't go back to Amazon Prime. Walmart will provide the same service with cheaper prices. Sometimes we have to bite a bullet in order to sleep well at night.

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I don’t like the idea of making the Walton gang even richer but Jeff Bezos has left me no choice - bye, bye Prime - cancelled WaPo a month ago. Starting in July, I have begged Bezos (in the comments) to give or sell the paper to his brilliant, beautiful, generous former wife, MacKenzie Scott. Surprisingly, I have not heard from him.

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I was trying to buy some brown sugar online the other day. I don't think I've ever paid $6/lb. for sugar before like Amazon and Walmart were asking. Finally bought it from Target. 🤷‍♀️

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Oct 27Liked by Elliot Kirschner

I just subscribed to the Atlantic. Let us know if you make a list of independent publications to check out.

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I haven't actually liked the Atlantic for about a year now. It seems to me as if it has both left and right leaning articles, which sounds like balance, but many of them have been presented in isolation each from the other, rather than integrated in such a way as to provide perspective and push-pull. It feels like reaction baiting to me - similar in practice to click bait. I gave up on it, and am currently just on Substack and online versions of the age old TV news shows and commentators like Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell, but there have been some newspapers suggested by readers on Hubbell which I intend to look into.

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And it’s hard to be a part of the discussion at The Atlantic; I’ve had a subscription for years and periodically write to them to ask if they would start reader’s comments on articles, never got a response

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I think having a discussion option is part of what keeps and will keep Substack authors steered in the right direction. Feedback is good.

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The Guardian

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Left wing media outlet as balanced reporting? Odd choice.

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Same

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founding
Oct 27Liked by Elliot Kirschner

Cancelled.

So much for WaPo.

I guess Amazon, Whole Foods, and Prime Delivery are next.

Say, if I cancel every moron in my food chain, where do I eat?

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Interesting point - I have a chart of food store (taking you literally due to the Whole Foods and Prime Delivery portion of your comment) ownership and it comes down to about five main chunks of ownership. Mom and Pop stores, older grocery chains, ethnic grocery stores, farmers' markets in season (wonderful!) and... hm. How does Trader Joe's fare? I just cancelled an order from Amazon and suppose I will have to drag my carcass to my local CVS and hardware. Maybe I'll interact with real humans! It might be scary... ; )

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I go to mom and pop stores, even if a few pennies more

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Farmers markets and CSA

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Your local food co-op. If you don't have one, make some calls and start one. WE, the members, own our 3 Mississippi Market stores in St. Paul, and there are several, including The Wedge, in Minneapolis.

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Oct 27Liked by Elliot Kirschner

I’m going to cancel all subscriptions! I’m appalled! Has Trump offered them all money??!!

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I too cancelled my WA Post subscription, plus I cancelled my Amazon Prime and will no longer use Amazon. I have very little power in this world, but I can vote and I can choose where to spend my money. I use what power I have.

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founding

Using what power we have left is what counts, thank you.

Otherwise, we'd still have slavery since we all wear cotton.

I still can't get over how Henry Ford admired Adolf Hitler so much, and vice versa.

Keeping our eye on the principle of a matter suddenly seems clearer and more important.

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I love your guts! That's clear and sound thinking. 😄

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Oct 27Liked by Elliot Kirschner

You are truly a man of principal. I applaud you SIR!

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Oct 27Liked by Elliot Kirschner

I also cancelled

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Me too!!

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My friend who moved to Australia close to 15 yrs ago told me that the corporations are in the process of governing. That they want to take over and our constitution and government

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Your friend is correct. Ask yourself why Elon Musk is 'donating' huge sums of $ to put Trump back in the White House as are other business leaders. Trump courted them during his first term by giving them large tax breaks. If he's re-elected he's sworn to not only give them additional tax breaks but also to roll back/eliminate environmental restrictions meaning they'll once again be free to pollute our land, air, and waterways with industrial waste. Think Trump and Vance's rumblings about imposing 100-200% tariffs on imported goods will benefit the American people? Hardly, as we'll all be paying substantially more for imported goods, an import tax if you will. So, no, tariffs won't benefit the average American, quite the opposite, but they sure as heck will benefit American corporations in that consumers will be forced to look to them for products and with tax breaks and few, if any, environmental protections American corporations' profits will be astronomical.

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The whole thing with Trump bragging about how he's going to tax other countries by imposing massive tarrifs clearly shows just one of the reasons he should not be trying to run this country. He has no idea how things work! If he doesn't understand how things work how can he run the place?

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Good to know

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I get all my news and commentary from Substack writers now.

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Oct 27Liked by Elliot Kirschner

Wholeheartedly agree, also canceled WaPo

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Oct 27Liked by Elliot Kirschner

I don't have an LA Times subscription; I cancelled WaPo.

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Same. This article expressed my feelings exactly.

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Ditto. So angry and not looking or going back!!!

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Oct 27Liked by Elliot Kirschner

I’m right there with you!

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I’m with you! I also cancelled my subscriptions.

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I stopped reading CNN when they defended a colleague ... seemingly (and simply) because he is a colleague. During these past several years, I have gone down a path of using fewer "traditional" news sources and more independent ones ... and Substacks like Heather Cox Richardson, Joyce Vance, Robert Reich, Steve Schmidt, ... and Elliot Kirschner. Thank you for your perspectives!

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Yes, I did the same thing for the same reasons.

Coming from AU, I feel bad about Rupert being inflicted on the world. His father was a genuine newspaperman. His mother was pretty much a secular saint. Dame Elisabeth in her own right. Charitable work for children, lover of gardens, which she opened up to people without gardens. And she knew Rupert was a "difficult child" but seemed powerless to divert his character towards the good. Unfortunately, she left Rupert with very good genes (she lived to about 105, I think from memory).

But USA took him in - like Trump's snake. 🫤 Rupert was a bad actor in the UK as well (like Trump, who is a "bad actor" in both senses).

Anyway, cancelled WaPo yesterday. Would love to know how many subscribers they lost.

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Oct 27Liked by Elliot Kirschner

I cancelled my NY Times subscription weeks ago but now I’m wondering if that was the right thing to do. If we all cancel and these big newspapers go out of business will the dark side win since there will be less news coverage?

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No - they Are the dark side. I don't think there will be less news coverage. Wherever there is money to be made there will be products to lure it. What we need is a newspaper that is not owned by a single billionaire, but a newspaper owned by shareholders or something similar. Currently we do have substack and online commentators competing for the public view. I think it is just shaking out, but not folding up.

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The Guardian is not owned by billionaires and is independent.

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True, true and I do read it... could/should have included it. Well, really, I didn't/couldn't name everything I read. The Guardian has been a regular, with articles in my inbox daily.

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The Associated Press (AP)?

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Yes - pretty much like that for one way it can work. I think of the AP as a heart pumping news out to member news organizations and I haven't kept track and it's not on my usual rounds (although as you point out it should be), but since it does take news back in from member news sources as well (for stories it hasn't covered or that are local) I suppose it has probably been at least slightly compromised by this recent bias but that's only a guess, and if so then a taint that will wash through and be cleansed much faster than from any of the currently abhorrent corporate news sources supporting fascism.

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Your news coverage is right here on Substack.

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