We are living at a pivotal time for journalism as we’ve known it . The daily newspaper looks to be fighting for survival. The issue is all a matter of distribution and finding it’s audience. The production of the paper would be financed by advertising revenue. This has been the case since the Han dynasty, (though the Emperor covered the tab at that time).

The computer and advertising venues like Craigslist are putting your local newsboy out of work. Twenty years ago, total daily newspaper circulation in the U.S. was 60 million. Today, it is 43.7 million and dropping. The venerable New York Times is now desperately looking to see how they can charge for their online content. The financial health of it’s printed newspaper makes the auto industry look healthy.

So how do You get your news? (Daily Helping, aside).

The Daily Helping strongly suggests you pick up a copy of the aptly named magazine, The Week.  This is a thin, reasonably priced weekly magazine that provides the week’s significant news from a large number of outlets (many of which are print media.) Aside from news coverage, The Week covers the arts, science, and business. There’s also a page devoted to editorial cartoons from around the country. This is truly an objective source for news. There’s no political slant to The Week.  A few minutes with this magazine and you’ll have a general sense of what’s going on both here and abroad, reading the work of talented journalists from around the country and the world.

It’s a shame that it’s such a well-kept secret but not surprising.  A good amount of the support for the magazine comes from educators who are determined to connect their students to global perspectives and current events.  A subscription is assigned early in their classes.

The Week’s motto: “All you need to know about everything that matters”.