‘The Hindu’ digital subscription - it’s worth!

[Deleted member 15865]

‘The Hindu’’s digital subscription (at around Rs 1200 per annum) is worth far more than what you pay for it - especially as you gain access to the best archived content - deep reporting and articles from almost every field of human life over the past 15-20 years. All the free content available elsewhere in plenty today - from online news to WhatsApp forwards put together doesn’t hold a candle to it.

For example, I am exploring Hindustani classical music in some depth these days. When I am listening to a Raga/artist, however uncommon, and I Google for the same, most of the best coverage (apart from some individuals blogs) is from archives of The Hindu.

Their newsletters and specials for subscribers are also well-curated. Like the ebook on Gandhi day before with articles and letters on/by him from his time.

I value and respect their decision to not go free with all their content - which would necessitate indiscriminate advertisements to sustain - but instead charge for what’s worth. It ensures the editorial keeps an upper hand over the marketing.

If you are a deep reader/researcher (on anything), try out their 14 days free trial.

Subscribe to The Hindu Digital: Renewals / New Subscriptions for Unlimited Access

Get premium and unlimited digital access to The Hindu by subscribing or renewing existing membership, which can be one time or recurring

subscription.thehindu.com

 

[raghupb]

‘The Hindu’’s digital subscription (at around Rs 1200 per annum) is worth far more than what you pay for it - especially as you gain access to the best archived content - deep reporting and articles from almost every field of human life over the past 15-20 years. All the free content available elsewhere in plenty today - from online news to WhatsApp forwards put together doesn’t hold a candle to it.

For example, I am exploring Hindustani classical music in some depth these days. When I am listening to a Raga/artist, however uncommon, and I Google for the same, most of the best coverage (apart from some individuals blogs) is from archives of The Hindu.

Their newsletters and specials for subscribers are also well-curated. Like the ebook on Gandhi day before with articles and letters on/by him from his time.

I value and respect their decision to not go free with all their content - which would necessitate indiscriminate advertisements to sustain - but instead charge for what’s worth. It ensures the editorial keeps an upper hand over the marketing.

If you are a deep reader/researcher (on anything), try out their 14 days free trial.

Subscribe to The Hindu Digital: Renewals / New Subscriptions for Unlimited Access

Get premium and unlimited digital access to The Hindu by subscribing or renewing existing membership, which can be one time or recurring

subscription.thehindu.com

I normally do not comment on the politics of the newspaper industry.
But carrying a full page ad for the CCP on October 1, 2020 was is very poor taste, in my opinion.
Content wise, The Hindu (and its archives) may have gold, but ....

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[Nikhil]

‘The Hindu’’s digital subscription (at around Rs 1200 per annum) is worth far more than what you pay for it - especially as you gain access to the best archived content - deep reporting and articles from almost every field of human life over the past 15-20 years. All the free content available elsewhere in plenty today - from online news to WhatsApp forwards put together doesn’t hold a candle to it.

For example, I am exploring Hindustani classical music in some depth these days. When I am listening to a Raga/artist, however uncommon, and I Google for the same, most of the best coverage (apart from some individuals blogs) is from archives of The Hindu.

Their newsletters and specials for subscribers are also well-curated. Like the ebook on Gandhi day before with articles and letters on/by him from his time.

I value and respect their decision to not go free with all their content - which would necessitate indiscriminate advertisements to sustain - but instead charge for what’s worth. It ensures the editorial keeps an upper hand over the marketing.

If you are a deep reader/researcher (on anything), try out their 14 days free trial.

Subscribe to The Hindu Digital: Renewals / New Subscriptions for Unlimited Access

Get premium and unlimited digital access to The Hindu by subscribing or renewing existing membership, which can be one time or recurring

subscription.thehindu.com

+1

Have been a subscriber for The Hindu online edition ever since the lockdown started.
They have always been an excellent newspaper with quality journalism standards.

One of my friends has been a guest columnist as well.
He has been writing for them an various topics on food, entertainment, society, etc


.

 

[Deleted member 15865]

I normally do not comment on the politics of the newspaper industry.
But carrying a full page ad for the CCP on October 1, 2020 was is very poor taste, in my opinion.
Content wise, The Hindu (and its archives) may have gold, but ....

Cheers,
Raghu

Raghu, I don't even know what/who CCP is. It's not uncommon for media to have ideological leanings, even political. My post here is more about the scholarly articles or in-depth interviews in various areas - arts, music, films, culture, sports, medicine, science and technology et. al where I find The Hindu's content goes far deeper than any other Indian newspaper publication. And the way they have archived it makes it a valuable resource for one interested in studying any of these areas. I don't read their online newspaper (or for that matter any newspaper - I used to read Indian Express in the past).

 

[Naturelover]

Having stopped print newspapers due to Covid, I read online only. Mostly The Indian Express which, in my opinion, is also a a very good one.
Sachin, please do a comparison between the two in the ares you have mentioned since you are familiar with both.

 

[Ashenden]

Thanks, Sachin. Subscribed!

They seem to be running a campaign now, with a reduced annual fee.

 

[raghupb]

Raghu, I don't even know what/who CCP is. It's not uncommon for media to have ideological leanings, even political. My post here is more about the scholarly articles or in-depth interviews in various areas - arts, music, films, culture, sports, medicine, science and technology et. al where I find The Hindu's content goes far deeper than any other Indian newspaper publication. And the way they have archived it makes it a valuable resource for one interested in studying any of these areas. I don't read their online newspaper (or for that matter any newspaper - I used to read Indian Express in the past).

CCP - Chinese Communist Party
Cheers,
Raghu

 

[Deleted member 15865]

Having stopped print newspapers due to Covid, I read online only. Mostly The Indian Express which, in my opinion, is also a a very good one.
Sachin, please do a comparison between the two in the ares you have mentioned since you are familiar with both.

@Naturelover, I can attempt a comparison, but only with my limitations. Since I am from Mumbai, I got exposed to The Hindu late in life... very recently in fact. First I tried a physical subscription for a month sometime last year, while keeping Indian Express (a newspaper I've been reading for last 20 years of so) also on. But I found the news coverage in The Hindu, even its Mumbai edition was more south centric. Probably it saw Mumbai-based families of Southern origin as their target segment. So, I discontinued it. With the lockdown I stopped Indian Express home delivery, and realised I wasn't really missing reading the daily newspaper. That much of the news we spend hours reading/watching evaporates with time, and that I'd rather devote the time to my interests. I used to love the Sports coverage of Indian Express a lot. They used to have some very exhaustive and even well-researched content there. But in other areas I started feeling Indian Express was losing its boldness, slowly but surely. The Hindu maintains that still. Their OP-eds still speak their mind. But as I wasn't keen on reading a daily newspaper, I still resisted subscribing.

But then in the last few months as I was digging deeper into music, I realised the strength of The Hindu's archives. Take for example, the Indian classical duo from the 70's and 80's - Singh Bandhu (I wrote a post on one of their albums in the forum after I liked it). When I looked up Wikipedia, it had sketchy information on them. But there were six links in Wikipedia's 'References' section, of which one was dead and two were merely awards listings. The rest three were all from The Hindu archives. One was a detailed coverage of concert by one of the brothers, and the other two were free-flowing interviews, one with each brother ... between 2004 and 2013. As i searched for more musical stuff, artists and ragas, I saw the same... The Hindu archives were indisputably the best beyond some individual blogs like Parrikars. I also realised Hindu archives were equally strong even in other areas, not just music. That's the primary reason I subscribed. I'd happily pay Rs 100 per month (average) for the ability to access the content in their archives. I don't see Indian Express doing any similar effort with theirs. Many of the links to their older content don't work any more.

Singh Bandhu - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[keith_correa]

... But carrying a full page ad for the CCP on October 1, 2020 was is very poor taste, in my opinion.

What has "poor taste" got to do with running an advertisement? In these times, newspapers exist because of advertisers. You cannot shoot the messenger.

 

[drkrack]

‘The Hindu’’s digital subscription (at around Rs 1200 per annum) is worth far more than what you pay for it - especially as you gain access to the best archived content - deep reporting and articles from almost every field of human life over the past 15-20 years. All the free content available elsewhere in plenty today - from online news to WhatsApp forwards put together doesn’t hold a candle to it.

For example, I am exploring Hindustani classical music in some depth these days. When I am listening to a Raga/artist, however uncommon, and I Google for the same, most of the best coverage (apart from some individuals blogs) is from archives of The Hindu.

Their newsletters and specials for subscribers are also well-curated. Like the ebook on Gandhi day before with articles and letters on/by him from his time.

I value and respect their decision to not go free with all their content - which would necessitate indiscriminate advertisements to sustain - but instead charge for what’s worth. It ensures the editorial keeps an upper hand over the marketing.

If you are a deep reader/researcher (on anything), try out their 14 days free trial.

Subscribe to The Hindu Digital: Renewals / New Subscriptions for Unlimited Access

Get premium and unlimited digital access to The Hindu by subscribing or renewing existing membership, which can be one time or recurring

subscription.thehindu.com

Yes, it's totally worth it.
I got it in 999rs annual offer.
Out of all the nonsense noisy media outlets, this is a less noisier one, with some amount of credibility still maintained.

 

[sivasarjun]

Their art and music supplement "Friday features"was very good until they stopped it around ten years ago.Coverage of Carnatic music was extensive.Once in a while they produced something called a Folio which had some outstanding writing on mainly music dance and culture..They were collectibles.
Sports coverage too was brilliant.Cricket of course was first but they had dedicated sports writers for Tennis,Hockey and even Chess.
Content and the quality of language was one of the best in India.

 

[AVM]

Lately I have been following The Print.in. Found them to focus on relevant news and follow facts. Also, I watch Cut the Clutter sessions by Shekhar Gupta.

 

[keith_correa]

But running a full page advertisement for Chinese govt with a big picture of Xi Jinping.... in the current situation doesn't look good for a newspaper like Hindu.

It is in the eyes of the beholder. And like Sachin said, media have their own political leanings; as a reader, we may not always agree with that tilt but till what they are doing is legal, it is legit.

 

[oldmonk]

legit

Since when did legit and good taste become one ?

 

[Deleted member 15865]

Are we losing track of the thread?

 

[Deleted member 15865]

Moderators, please close this thread. My reason for starting it was to highlight the depth and coverage of Hindu archives (accessible through the subscription), which might be useful to some audiophile friends in their musical journey. But the discussion in the thread has lost its focus and seems to have taken a political tone.

Thanks in anticipation.

Fellow members, why can’t we stick to the subject of the thread, and make it more useful to all? Irrespective of ideologies they subscribe to, if you know of any publications (Indian or international) that has as varied and deep archived content at such an affordable subscription price, please do contribute. Why make this a thread to voice your political leanings? How’s that relevant to the thread, or even to the purpose of the forum itself?

 

[Hari Iyer]

I have completely stopped reading newspapers in any format (print, online, TV Channels, internet , YouTube etc) since 2012. I find myself very relaxed and stress-free because of this. You should try this for a month and check out for yourself and you will thank me for this advise.

 

[moktan]

Moderators, please close this thread. My reason for starting it was to highlight the depth and coverage of Hindu archives (accessible through the subscription), which might be useful to some audiophile friends in their musical journey. But the discussion in the thread has lost its focus and seems to have taken a political tone.

Thanks in anticipation.

Fellow members, why can’t we stick to the subject of the thread, and make it more useful to all? Irrespective of ideologies they subscribe to, if you know of any publications (Indian or international) that has as varied and deep archived content at such an affordable subscription price, please do contribute. Why make this a thread to voice your political leanings? How’s that relevant to the thread, or even to the purpose of the forum itself?

The only periodical I read on a paid subscription basis is the London Review of Books. I have been reading this for the past twenty years. The magazine doesn’t just feature reviews but very well written , erudite in-depth essays. The political leaning is mildly left of centre but this isn’t The Guardian , though there was an effusive writeup of the LRB in the Graun which called it The Best Magazine in the world ( don’t believe it , such categories don’t exist ). I like LRB for it’s eclectic topics , it’s stylistic rigor and the attitude of its publisher owner , Mary Kay Wilmers , who I believe has sunk millions of pounds of her inheritance money into this magazine ( which apparently pays its contributors very well). Indian or Indian origin writers who contribute regularly include Pankaj Mishra ( am not an avid reader of his ) and Amia Srinivasan.
The LRB usually has a 6 month initial subscription offer of about 1100 rupees. Can’t think of a better deal. The 1.1K gives you two LRBs a month and access to their vast repository of past issues not to mention their blog and podcasts. LRB is available as an app on iPad and you can read it on Kindle too. However on Kindle I discovered that the old issues don’t load properly and downloaded ones keep getting lost. On the music front , in the recent past they have featured articles on Kraftwerk and Western Country Music. The great linguist , the late Jerry Fodor also used to write regularly on Western Classical music , especially operas.
Other contributors of note - Perry Anderson , John Lanchester ( love his writing ),Andrew O’Hagen ( whose long write ups on Julian Assange and the slightly underwhelming essay on the outing of Satoshi Nakamoto the elusive founder(s) of the Bitcoin have been some of the past LRB highlights that attracted attention to the magazine from beyond its coterie of readers ) , Michael Wood, ( the resident movie reviewer but writes on other topics too), Wille Self , Hillary Mantel , Mary Beard, David Runcaiman. Contributors of note who have passed away - Jeni Diski ( she wrote an especially poignant though self deprecating diary even as she was slowly dying of cancer), Peter Campbell who designed their covers and wrote art critiques ( recent issue featured a beautiful write up on Art called Art Lessons in the style of a letter written to a young person ( like Rilke , Cecil Day Lewis etc). Also Rupert Beale’s Covid updates are probably the only thing you need to keep yourself updated on the pandemic vaccine etc effort, Hugh Pennington is another writer whose informative essays on health are very enlightening.

 

[sud98]

I started reading 'The Ken' which focuses one insightful article a day. Each article is very deep in research and is written extremely well. I havent found better material which is thought provoking esp. in India. However, the subscription is steep, so wondering should i go for it as my free trial is over.

The Ken - Unrivaled analysis and powerful stories about businesses from across the globe brought to you by award-winning journalists.

The Ken - Unrivaled analysis and powerful stories about businesses from across the globe brought to you by award-winning journalists.

the-ken.com

 

[arj]

Moderator note: Moved some posts out just so that we dont start a political debate here and am sure we do not need yet another forum for those debates
Locking this since intent of the post is fulfilled