Why I cancelled my subscription to The Economist
With a heavy heart I cancelled my subscription to The Economist tonight.
My wife bought me a subscription to the publication for our first wedding anniversary (we will have been married five years next month).
For a number of months now it has landed on our door mat on a Friday and went unopened for days or sometimes went straight to the recycling basket.
I've always been a fan of The Economist's journalism and found it very informative (when I read it).
What is it about human nature that we put off decisions? I've known for months now that I hardly ever read it, but the truth was I enjoyed it arriving at home and having it the on the off chance I might pick it up, but I seldom did.
The truth is that I was just too busy to read it. It's a great shame, but it's hard to justify ã29 a quarter for something you don't read anymore.
Part of me feels like I'm letting the journalistic fraternity down - should I have continued paying my subs and not reading it?
It's not all bad news for journalism though. Having been impressed with the UK launch of technology and science magazine Wired, I will be taking out a subscription. It's published monthly so hopefully I'll find time to read it.
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Dale Street Associates
David Bartlett
City editor of the Post and Echo covering politics, regeneration, and urban affairs.
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I know exactly what you mean. I had a similar experience in the 1970s with the magazine Health & Efficiency. I just used to shove each copy under the bed on the off chance I may get it out while Mrs C was at the shops.
This is stopping me from taking a subscription to the New Yorker. Bought three copies in recent weeks as a test. Devoured first one. Second and third still have large unread chunks. Might leave it as an airport indulgence for now!
My dad bought me as a present shortly before going to Uni subscription to Q Magazine. Over a decade later he hadn't cancelled. Then last November he told me he'd stopped his direct debit. I was a tad gutted at the news. More so for the familiarity than the 'read' as it's lost much of it's finest features.
Happily, their distribution dept haven't noticed and six months later it's still dropping through the letterbox.
Happy story that, innit?
Well, David, I know the feeling - so much to read, so little time to do it; but one thing, as a remaining subscriber, I would say about The Economist is that you can often read it later (sometimes much so), and it still makes sense!
Plus, the online subscriber debates are often really excellent - one recently on Keynesianism vs. monetarism (I parody a bit, but not much), and now one on whether sustainable development can ever be the real thing.
And the comparative international cover does help to give a perspective on what's happening here, as well - albeit from an informed but less common (to us) vantage point.
Maybe you should try just the online version, thereby saving paper but keeping everything on-hand for when required? Just an idea....
Cheers, Hilary www.hilaryburrage.com
Cheers Hilary, I think I'll check that out.