How to get around the paywall at national newspapers

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Fri Jul 15, 2022, 11:37 AM - Edit history (3)

Because the Washington Post, like the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal., is a national newspaper, it is almost certainly available on your public library's database. As in, available for free, with no paywall.

You don't have to go to the library. Since you're reading this, you have access to a computer. Log into your account at the library and find the database of newspapers. The Post will be there. Ask your librarian for help if you need it.

{edited to add} The library doesn't have to be open. Its website is running 24/7, so you can log in at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday morning to read the newspaper.

Articles in the Cody, Wyoming, Enterprise, the Fairhope, Alabama, Times, or the Kodiak, Alaska, Daily Mirror might be just a bit harder to find.

I'll keep posting this as many times as I have to.

* Free, in the sense that you pay for it with your taxes. That kind of free.

[Sherman A1]

1. Excellent! point!

The local library is a wealth of good things too often forgotten or ignored.

[Casady1]

2. I only pay

Last edited Sun Feb 13, 2022, 09:36 AM - Edit history (1)

$4.00 per month for the times and the post. They have subscription models like that and they will continue to renew them at that level if you threaten to quit. I think it is okay to support them.

[zeusdogmom]

6. This.

Good journalism is not free. Those of us who can should be help supporting at least one newspaper via a subscription.

[happy feet]

12. +1

[FailureToCommunicate]

26. Amen.

[NJCher]

33. agreed, that's why I pay for

Washington Post (the best, as far as I am concerned), NY Times, NY Daily News, Wall Street Journal, and the local NJ.

And hey, there's a convenience aspect to it, also. So many of these articles are seen as links around the web that it's nice to just be able to go to the article and not have to mess around with any other pointing and clicking.

As a writer, I have to support other writers.

Plus I can "gift" articles with many of the major newspapers.

I also give to public radio.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

43. I think the WaPo lets me "gift" six articles per month, maybe eight. I can't recall.

Thanks for writing.

[IrishAfricanAmerican]

35. Yep.

[AllyCat]

52. Not for $17/month I'm not.

[RecoveringJournalist]

18. Exactly

I'm no longer a print journalist because there wasn't enough money to keep paying me. Actual journalism IS a product that costs money. People who want to read newspapers for free are one of the big reasons newspapers are dying. And the death of local newspapers is one of the reasons misinformation is on the rise. If you want something for nothing, eventually you'll get nothing.

[PatSeg]

27. Actually worse than "nothing"

You get a lot of garbage and actual fake news.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

59. Exactly.

[PatSeg]

23. Same here

I have the New York Times for $4.00 a month and when the special was over and they charged me the regular price, I cancelled. They gave the special rate for another year. I would willingly pay more for the subscription if I used it more though. Also I periodically send money to The Guardian in an amount that I feel is commensurate with my usage.

Good journalism isn't free and I like to feel I support them somewhat even if it isn't a whole lot.

[paleotn]

30. Of course it's OK to support them....

They don't always report what I want to hear, but that's the point. Good, professional journalism doesn't always jive with my preconceived notions anymore than it does for those on the reich. That's exactly what I want. Make me think outside my virtual bubble. Good, professional journalism isn't cheap, but it tells the truth more often than not. We need that desperately. I'm willing to pay for it.

[llmart]

38. Keep in mind...

that going through your library account doesn't necessarily mean the newspapers are not getting "support" that way. Your library pays a substantial fee to subscribe to these on-line accounts and you, in turn, pay the library through your taxes. Libraries do not get these sites for free.

Also, most libraries offer access to Consumer Reports. My library offers Kanopy, and I just discovered you can access The Great Courses through your library card. Of course, they offer other things too. Like British TV shows? My library subscribes to Acorn TV.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

44. You are correct.

that going through your library account doesn't necessarily mean the newspapers are not getting "support" that way. Your library pays a substantial fee to subscribe to these on-line accounts and you, in turn, pay the library through your taxes. Libraries do not get these sites for free.

That's it exactly. Downstream, GarySeven went on a rant under the mistaken impression that this was theft. I hope he reads your post and sees that he was mistaken.

As an example of my undying support for libraries, I bought a couple of six-packs at the Trader Joe's on Friday. In Virginia, there's a six percent sales tax on beer. That eentsy bit of taxes will be thrown into the pile that will be divvied up, with some going to the public library.

In a way, drinking is a public service.

Thanks for writing.

[llmart]

47. Yes, I saw that nasty rant.

I was just getting ready to repost it, but won't waste my time.

Having worked in all facets of libraries, both law libraries and public libraries and been a library board member and in library management, I know all the ins and outs of how they operate. Myself? I pay about $225 dollars a year in taxes to support my public library. I also pay a fee to a nearby library that I prefer using that's about $175 annually. I highly doubt most here on DU know how public libraries are financed and their budget processes.

[Grasswire2]

58. Me, too.

The Times, WaPo, and Esquire for Charlie Pierce and Mother Jones and also $5 per month for Seth Abramson. I love being able to comment on WaPo articles in the middle of the night on my phone when I have to sit with kitty for a few minutes.

[ItsjustMe]

3. Try Mercury Reader

https://mercury.postlight.com/reader/

[AZSkiffyGeek]

4. Usually clearing the cookies in your browser works

I have an add-on to clear them from individual websites on the fly. That usually works to reset the free article count.
I’ve seen posters link to archive.org as well. I’m less inclined to use them as they actively pirate copyrighted books on the site, and I’ve got a feeling their free newspaper articles fall under that umbrella as well - I doubt they have rights to free access, but they might. They do republish and distribute stuff legally, but they are a grey area.
I have subscriptions to the Post and my local paper, that’s enough for now

[ItsjustMe]

8. No need to delete cookies

Sometimes opening a web link in Incognito mode or Inprivate window will work.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

20. A lot of newspapers block attempts to read them via incognito browsers.

The default setting for browsers at my library is incognito. If I try to read a newspaper at the library using a public terminal opened to that newspaper's website, I often find access blocked, because I'm using an incognito browser.

[zeusdogmom]

5. Amen, amen, amen!

I have previously posted about this very valuable library resource. Most of us would be amazed by what is available.

I can understand us oldies who grew up on card catalogs not knowing about digital library resources, but anyone under 40? No excuse. What were you doing (or not doing) school? 😄

A loving message to all. If you are not an active user of the library, take it upon yourself to become one. Go to your local library with any kind of ID or proof of address so you can get a library card - what you need varies from place to place. Librarians these days are very friendly and knowledgeable - they WANT to help you. The small plastic card will open vast vistas of information in print and digital formats including movies, music, etc. Most accessible from your home electronic device. Sometimes other items as well - tools, kid’s toys, paintings to hang on your blank wall, locally a zoo membership card you can check out for a week to visits the zoo. If you don’t want a card - you can still go to the library to use materials there - sit and read a newspaper, a magazine, story time for little kids, get home work help, tax help in many places, computer usage training, and if necessary help with learning English, help learning to read.

You are already paying for this incredible resource via your local and state taxes. One of our best government services ever!

OK. I’ll get off my soapbox now. It probably shows I am a library supporter. 😄

Enjoy your Sunday everyone. Off to choir warmup for 11 AM worship service and then this afternoon - football. May the mighty Bengals be victorious!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

7. Thanks. It's as if a lot of DUers figured that, once they got out of elementary school, they didn't

have to know that stuff anymore.

In the Before Times, when I went into work, I could grab a free copy of The Wall Street Journal. every day, if I wanted one. That's been a while.

I don't have a subscription to a lot of things, so I make it a point to get down to the local library at least once a week. I enjoy sitting down to read an actual newspaper or two. The weekend edition of The Wall Street Journal. will set you back $5 per copy if you buy it outright. It a good read at the library.

It's snowing today, so maybe I'll have to forgo my usual trip to the library this weekend.

Thanks for writing.

[zeusdogmom]

9. It does feel good to sit and read at the library

The chairs are comfy, it is warm or cool depending on the season (and for many that is VERY important), the activity in the building life affirming. Plus there is something about holding an actual newspaper in your hands - just something about newsprint.

[niyad]

10. A most excellent reminder. I love my local library for all the reasons that you

listed, and more. Local meeting place. Various groups meet thre. Lunch program for kids in need in summer. The interlibrary loan program. And the very nicest people. And the Friends of the Library book sales.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

13. It's also where I update the OS on my mobile phone.

Apple phones update over a Wifi connection. The library has one. They usually leave it on afterhours. On Inauguration Day 2017, I saw outside my library, using their Wifi connection. I had gone there thinking it would be open that day. Why it was closed, I do not know. It's not a state holiday.

Metrorail has a Wifi connection too. Many times I have seen the same woman standing outside the entrance of my nearest Metrorail stop using her mobile phone.

[llmart]

40. +1

I worked in libraries for ten years. I now volunteer three days a week with the Friends group in the used book sales. The library I'm with is in a diverse and somewhat wealthy area and the sorts of books and materials we get through donations is astounding. Our book sales bring in tens of thousands of dollars to support the library. Some people come from all over when we have our quarterly book sales. Some shoppers spend hours looking through all we have to offer.

[AllyCat]

11. Great idea! I paid for NYT and suddenly got billed $17/mo

after paying $4/mo. Took multiple emails and angry chats to finally have someone here suggest I change my credit card number. That did the trick.

[NJCher]

42. that happened to me, too

And just check: they did NOT send an email advising of the promo end. They agreed to let me have the promo rate again after I complained enough and also sent a screen shot showing them they did not advise me.

$17 a month is crazy.

[frogstar0]

14. But......

Yes, it is easy to just use a different browser and delete your history etc to get more 'free' articles. But if you read
a newspaper a lot you really should support it if you can afford it. Maybe pay for a couple months a year then drop it.
Nothing is really free.

[bucolic_frolic]

15. I did that and it asks me to create an account

not sure which rabbit hole that goes down

[mahatmakanejeeves]

17. For me, it's my library card number, and then a four-digit PIN that

Last edited Sun Feb 13, 2022, 12:35 PM - Edit history (2)

is, by default, the last four digits of my telephone number.

{edited. I had said that the PIN was "a four-digit PIN of my choice." It can be that, but it starts out based on my phone number, until I choose otherwise.}

[intheflow]

48. I'm a librarian and the default login

for all our databases is your card number and the last four digits of your phone number. You can change your password at any time. This was how it was done in my previous library system, too.

[bucolic_frolic]

49. Those alternatives don't work for me

It dismisses my card number, and asks to create an account with my email address. I'll ask at the library next time I get there.

Thanks anyway!

[patphil]

16. Yes! My wife is a librarian in New City N.Y. (not to be confused with NYC)

This is exactly how it's done. All you need is a library card and you automatically gain access to dozens of internet publications and databases. The library buys the licenses to do this.
It's like going into the library to read the paper but without having to leave your house.
So you can read at your convenience...any time of the day or night.

[Old Crank]

19. I understand the desire to

Try and avoid paywalled newspapers.
If everyone avoids payments how will they stay in business. The only sites left will be major papers. Already lthe locals are getting killed or bought out .
I read some papers articles from other sites that link to them. To find I can't read one article from a small local paper without subscribing in annoying and I don't read the article. I think it would be good if they had a 3-5 article per month limit. I am unlikely to read something in the Orange County Register more than twice a year.
I currently have subscriptions to the NYT, SJ Mercury News, Washington Post, The guardian, and the Economist.
I think I'm doing my part to help pay for news collection and distribution.
As usual, my situation is not your situation.

[FailureToCommunicate]

25. Amen.

Younger brother was a investigative journalist.

Real papers hire real reporters, who have real lives, families, and need real incomes.

Or, people can just get their "news" from some rando internet "report".

[stopdiggin]

34. your post pretty much describes my own

thinking and posture on the subject. I do subscribe to a certain amount of publications - including some pretty solid 'local' work (and thus feel I'm 'doing my bit' for newspapers and journalism). But I can't possibly 'support' them all - and also run into that 'occasional' read situation, where it makes no sense at all for me to have a subscription to a local in Bowling Green, KY (no offense meant). So do what you can, but there's nothing wrong at all with accessing things through your library website (particularly if you are also a fan and supporter of your local library - (kudos, both ways).

And - we perhaps shouldn't forget the truism, 'those that have more, should do more.'
-----

[multigraincracker]

21. Old school and cheap here.

The local fish wrap is $2.25/day. I tried to get the cheap E edition and when I called the number it was surreal. After they got my credit card number, I ended up getting all kind of charges on it.
Went to the bank and had cancel the account and start a new one. Had to change all of my direct deposit...in other words a cluster f**k for me.

Found a local coffee shop that always has a couple of copies around. Now I go online and see if there are any headlines of articles I need to read to keep up on local news. If so, I get out of the house, a positive for me, and get a $2.00 cup of joe and read the paper. Takes the time it takes to read the paper as drink a small coffee.
I get out and socialize for the same price. Win, Win for me.
I'll to check the library on the Reservation that I live on. I get my library card there and it gives me access to every library in the county. Love to support the Tribe too.

[stopdiggin]

36. you should also be cherishing that $2.00 cup

of joe (and ambiance that goes with). That doesn't happen just everywhere!

[NJCher]

45. that sounds like a fun way to approach it

eom

[paleotn]

22. I'd rather pay if I can. It funds good, professional journalism...

in a time when we really need good, professional journalism.

[FailureToCommunicate]

28. True. Internet "journalism": free. Professional journalism: not free

[AngryOldDem]

24. Mixed feelings about this.

Especially as it concerns smaller papers. Yes, paywalls are frustrating when you reach your limit of free articles, or something that you want to read is locked. But newspapers have to do this to survive. Most are already hanging by a thin thread.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

37. You seem not to understand the concept of taxes.

GarySeven wrote:

You know what's great about America?

It's the fact that you can go into any store and just take what you want and never have to pay for anything. It doesn't matter how much time a person puts into making that thing, or how many people depend on their livelihood on the making of that thing, or the cost of producing it -- if you want it, just take it!

Did you know that all that news content costs money, time, and effort to produce? Don't give me the conservative MAGA reflexive response that news reporters are enemies and deserve being ripped off. I am assuming you think the content of the pubs you cite is valuable, or you wouldn't want it. Even if you want to make the argument that New York Times and Washington Post reporters work for wealthy corporations with an agenda, there are still working people who run the press, deliver the papers, as well as advertisers who invest their time and effort in making the thing YOU WANT TO STEAL.

I bet you have, or had, a newspaper in your hometown. Maybe they had to put up a paywall to counter the meaningless drivel that news reporting is a public commodity, so no one needs to respect the effort it takes to produce it. Well, because of skeevy little thieves like you, there are fewer people to work at the paper and even fewer papers that even exist. And while it may make your heart glad that people who gave their whole lives to a craft are now starving, and their children have no health insurance, that also means that you don't know what your local government is doing with the taxes they extract from your paycheck, and there's no one to account for the hundreds of misdeeds, small and large, that they are getting away with in city hall, the county commission, the state government and the Congress of the United States.

On the other hand, it is kind of poetic that your small act of theft means that you yourself are being robbed of knowledge, of taxes, and even of your own right to govern yourself.

Go fuck yourself you piece of shit.

Thank you for your "insight," in a manner of speaking, GarySeven.

You seem not to understand how taxes work. Let me explain.

I pay for the library with my taxes. The library takes my taxes, bundles them up with everyone else's taxes, and then uses the money to buy books, computers, DVDs, pay the light bill, and so forth. They also use the money to pay for access to online databases.

The online databases, such as Gale, pay the major national newspapers a royalty fee to have the newspapers' content show up in those databases. For newspapers, this is a source of revenue, just as book publishers and authors receive payment for the books that are on the shelves of libraries. The newspapers have been letting their content appear in databases, so I suspect that are at least complacent with the practice.

You might argue that people who don't pay taxes are getting a free ride, but I don't mind picking up the tab so that school kids can read books or that the unemployed can do job searches online. It's a civic duty.

At no point is anyone committing theft.

I'm pretty sure you are the one who fails to comprehend the process.

Thanks for writing.

[stopdiggin]

39. admirable rant. feel better? -(nt)-

[talking-liberally]

31. I pay for newspapers because they are a vital aspect of a democracy.

[GarySeven]

32. I'd buy you a dozen valentine hearts

... but I work for a newspaper, so I can't afford it.

[BlackSkimmer]

50. I subscribe o two newspapers. I also pay taxes which support my library.

Your rant was way off.

[usaf-vet]

41. My dad supported our family working for newspapers. He was one of the printers that put together....

...and printed the papers. They were the ones with ink under their fingernails AND PROUD of it.

Firewalls that block access to important national news annoys me. The lack of being able to access timely news regarding the Covid pandemic is the best example I have seen in years.

IMHO that news should never be kept from a public that needs to know to be safe.

Here at DU I always appreciate posters who tell me ahead of time that the rest of the story is behind a firewall.

[DBoon]

57. I do as well

even if the newspaper leaves much to be desired or if I find their analysis to be completely ridiculous

[L. Coyote]

46. I opened a Wa Post article, then used Tools - Web Developer - Page Source to read it and ...

I discovered the page code included my name, birthday, and a whole lot of my personal information. They knew more about me than my friends do, and it was incorporated into the news page I opened in the code. That was quite the surprise, and it was apparent my information came from Facebook.

[AllyCat]

51. It worked! I have access to WaPo! Thank you for this idea!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

53. Thanks, but don't thank me; thank your local librarians and your fellow taxpayers.

They're the ones making it possible. I'm just writing it down.

[AllyCat]

54. I just never thought I could do this.

I want to support them. Even $5-10/month seems reasonable. But when they switched me to $17/mo with no notice and didn’t offer another rate when I complained, I had to change my credit card number to get them to “cancel”.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

55. You'd be surprised at all the things you can do at the library. NT

[I_UndergroundPanther]

56. I am thankful for libraries

And every month they toss out some old editions. I look for nat geos and cat fancy and other good ones to do collage work. Mental floss and adbusters are a given.

Its very theraputic to me.

[Rhiannon12866]

60. I always vote "yes" on the local library budget.

[empedocles]

61. A few years ago, here in NoVa, this county, when 'cons were in charge, they tried to privatize the

large library system.