After I canceled my WaPo subscription, I kept getting offers to resubscribe at a teaser rate for the first year. I finally caved when the offer was down to $20 for the year. I’ve already marked the calendar date for cancelling this subscription and waiting for the next set of promotions.
The free market works in both directions. And with what I save, I can pay for some good stuff on Substack.
I still see important stories in WaPo that haven’t hit NYT yet, or maybe are buried somewhere.. Today it’s about US water systems being hacked, probably by Iran, tho Trump says it’s not Iran, since he hates Tim Walz and wants to deny fallout from his idiotic war. Anyhow, I look at both NYT and WaPo daily, and have added the Guardian. We need to support good reporters wherever we can find them.
I pulled the Post plug last year after subscribing since 1971. As already noted, some of the great columnists have been picked up by the Atlantic, and we see them with our print/digital subscription. NOTUS and NOTUS Metro now have Dana Milbank and Andrew Van Dam of the Post's Department of Data, as well as former Post sports writers Dave Sheinin, Jesse Dougherty, and Michael Errigo. The NOTUS Metro edition has just started running Tom Sietsema's online Thursday chat. I fantasize that NOTUS, soon to be renamed The Star, could be poised to replace the WP. For local news, I turn also to WTOP, Bethesda Today, and Maryland Matters (we recently moved from DC after, for me, 54 years), along with the dribble of DC metro news from the NYT and Politico. Finally, while no longer in DC, I just can't quit Popville.
The most bone-headed decision I made? Of course they never seem so at the time. As William James wrote in I think Principles of Psychology, the most difficult decisions are between one good and another (perceived) good. Easy is between perceived bad and good. But, wow, do perceptions change as we age! So , in retrospect, it was marrying as I did in my late 20’s. Fortunately I have lived long enough to have a do-over
Joel Achenbach, David Ignatius, C. Hax, Eugene Robinson, Michelle Singletary, Balz are why I subscribe and likely others I just do not remember now. Joel is a true gem in science.
For that you earn major points. I know little about him except what I learn from his writing. From that alone, I learned he is a most likable and admirable kind of guy.
I unsubscribed after 55 years when Ann Telnaes left. The lady on the phone ask what she could do to make me a subscriber again. "Make the Post The Post again!"
I do miss the local angles and sports. The NYT's sports now sucks as well.
I hung on for way too many months just for the live chats, but Sietsema left, Petri jumped ship to the Atlantic, and Hax has been phoning it in the for the past three years.
Last year, I switched from home delivery seven days a week to Sunday only with digital, rather than cancel completely, partly because I wanted to support the few reporters and columnists with integrity still on board (e.g. Philip Kennicott), but also so I could still read the funnies and do the Sunday crossword. Now the funnies are deteriorating, and half the columnists I respected have been fired. The rot goes further than the op-ed pages.
I am cancelling my subscription. But the Post says I still have access until my subscription runs out in December. I used to like their crossword puzzels, but they don’t do their own anymore. They use the LA Times. Gee, isn’t that kinda liberal. Anyway, I don’t need a subscription with the LA Times to access their crosswords and games. The Post is such a waste. When Bezos leaves, I’ll think about subscribing.
For former WaPo subscribers, archive today (https://archive.is) is an um...workaround...of those pesky paywalls and annoying requests for your email. It also provides access to a great many other papers and magazines. It can be a bit hit or miss and unwieldy at times but hey --- whatya want for free eh? You have to go to the paper/magazine article to get its address or URL first and then enter that in the search box on archive today. It may take a while and you may be asked to prove you're not a bot but hey --- whatya want for free eh?
After I canceled my WaPo subscription, I kept getting offers to resubscribe at a teaser rate for the first year. I finally caved when the offer was down to $20 for the year. I’ve already marked the calendar date for cancelling this subscription and waiting for the next set of promotions.
The free market works in both directions. And with what I save, I can pay for some good stuff on Substack.
I subscribe online only so that I can do the daily crossword and read Carolyn Hax. I'm too heartbroken by the Post to do more than that.
I still see important stories in WaPo that haven’t hit NYT yet, or maybe are buried somewhere.. Today it’s about US water systems being hacked, probably by Iran, tho Trump says it’s not Iran, since he hates Tim Walz and wants to deny fallout from his idiotic war. Anyhow, I look at both NYT and WaPo daily, and have added the Guardian. We need to support good reporters wherever we can find them.
Tried to leave a Like in Dale’s comment.
And your rational side said, "Are you out of your effin' mind"?
The Like button wouldn’t work. I’ve seen others mention encountering this glitch.
I used to subscribe, and when I canceled, I decided to use some of the money I was saving to pay for a subscription to your Substack. True story.
I pulled the Post plug last year after subscribing since 1971. As already noted, some of the great columnists have been picked up by the Atlantic, and we see them with our print/digital subscription. NOTUS and NOTUS Metro now have Dana Milbank and Andrew Van Dam of the Post's Department of Data, as well as former Post sports writers Dave Sheinin, Jesse Dougherty, and Michael Errigo. The NOTUS Metro edition has just started running Tom Sietsema's online Thursday chat. I fantasize that NOTUS, soon to be renamed The Star, could be poised to replace the WP. For local news, I turn also to WTOP, Bethesda Today, and Maryland Matters (we recently moved from DC after, for me, 54 years), along with the dribble of DC metro news from the NYT and Politico. Finally, while no longer in DC, I just can't quit Popville.
The most bone-headed decision I made? Of course they never seem so at the time. As William James wrote in I think Principles of Psychology, the most difficult decisions are between one good and another (perceived) good. Easy is between perceived bad and good. But, wow, do perceptions change as we age! So , in retrospect, it was marrying as I did in my late 20’s. Fortunately I have lived long enough to have a do-over
Joel Achenbach, David Ignatius, C. Hax, Eugene Robinson, Michelle Singletary, Balz are why I subscribe and likely others I just do not remember now. Joel is a true gem in science.
Gary, I grieve to have to tell you this, but Achenbach, Robinson and Balz are no longer with the paper. The others are.
Shucks! Do you have any stories about Joel. I think you were at the Post at the same time. Where is he now? Thanks!
I see he does appear in the Post these days as a freelancer:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2026/07/01/america-300-imagining-next-half-century-change/
Joel is one of my closest friends. I edited him at the Miami Herald, then brought him with me to The Post in 1991.
For that you earn major points. I know little about him except what I learn from his writing. From that alone, I learned he is a most likable and admirable kind of guy.
Bezos will have Duck-Lips Lauren run the Editorial Board.
I unsubscribed after 55 years when Ann Telnaes left. The lady on the phone ask what she could do to make me a subscriber again. "Make the Post The Post again!"
I do miss the local angles and sports. The NYT's sports now sucks as well.
I hung on for way too many months just for the live chats, but Sietsema left, Petri jumped ship to the Atlantic, and Hax has been phoning it in the for the past three years.
These days I get local news from the Baltimore Banner and Montgomery Banner, and national news from Seth Meyers.
Last year, I switched from home delivery seven days a week to Sunday only with digital, rather than cancel completely, partly because I wanted to support the few reporters and columnists with integrity still on board (e.g. Philip Kennicott), but also so I could still read the funnies and do the Sunday crossword. Now the funnies are deteriorating, and half the columnists I respected have been fired. The rot goes further than the op-ed pages.
Luther Jett
I am cancelling my subscription. But the Post says I still have access until my subscription runs out in December. I used to like their crossword puzzels, but they don’t do their own anymore. They use the LA Times. Gee, isn’t that kinda liberal. Anyway, I don’t need a subscription with the LA Times to access their crosswords and games. The Post is such a waste. When Bezos leaves, I’ll think about subscribing.
`When Bezos leaves, will there be anything left of The Post to which to subscribe?
For former WaPo subscribers, archive today (https://archive.is) is an um...workaround...of those pesky paywalls and annoying requests for your email. It also provides access to a great many other papers and magazines. It can be a bit hit or miss and unwieldy at times but hey --- whatya want for free eh? You have to go to the paper/magazine article to get its address or URL first and then enter that in the search box on archive today. It may take a while and you may be asked to prove you're not a bot but hey --- whatya want for free eh?
I dropped from print copy to just online.