Guardian Weekly or The Economist?
 

I've always been a fan of subscribing to a periodical, though I've cut back lately, and don't have the interest or dedication to consistently read a daily newspaper. Thus, I've been considering subscribing to a non-US based weekly news magazine, and the two leading contenders for me are The Economist and Guardian Weekly.

If anyone is familiar with either, or both, periodicals and could recommend or criticize either, I'd really appreciate it, as it would influence my decision on which to pursue.

I will be picking up a copy of The Economist, as it's sold around here, but Guardian Weekly is a tougher find, and thus I may have to rely more on the reviews and comments of those that have read the periodical in the past.

I like to be up on the news and world events, but I don't really like getting my news from the Internet or television. I tend to turn to print as a means for getting me away from the PC and learning about the rest of the world, even though this practice may seem a bit counterintuitive to some.

As always, I'd appreciate any and all feedback in regards to either periodical, as I have a hankering for a solid worldly news publication and am pretty excited to have a weekly news periodical to read in the future.

I like the Economist. It's a pretty good magazine, much better than time or Newsweek.

I commend you for looking beyond the internet. The net is great if you know what you are looking for and want to find something specific. Unfortunately, it doesn't open the door to what you don't know is out there like a newspaper or magazine.

I've found it helpful to read several publications. Magazines provide periodic information (why they are called periodicals) and newspapers provide more timely news.

USA TODAY is a great publication for providing news from around the country and the world. It gives you a ton of information. It really helps me when I travel or when I deal with people from other parts of the country in terms of conversation, etc.

As far as the two magazines go, I would encourage you to read one of each and make up your own mind.

guardian.
well both, optimally.
but i read the guardian more or less daily.

I've never read The Guardian Weekly, but The Economist is an excellent and comprehensive publication. If I could afford a subscription it is THE ONE publication I would subscribe to. I've heard tell that it falls on the conservative side, but frankly, I've yet to notice it. They seem to have a very firm grasp on objectivity and pragmatism.

The Economist is great - the only drawback I see is that it's expensive. On the other hand, it's dense enough and gets delivered often enough that I sometimes don't finish the issues. So I guess they're delivering a lot of content for the money you pay...

The Economist writes from the classical liberal perspective which is, economically at least, generally conservative (not George Bush conservative). It might not hurt to be aware of The Economist editorial stance (Wikipedia). I'm not really all that familiar with Guardian Weekly's general leanings, so I can't really say much about that.

Generally speaking, I think The Economist is an excellent source of information (but, again, I'm not nearly as familiar with Guardian Weekly). So long as you understand what viewpoint it is being written from and keep that in mind as you read, it is quite informative.

the economist comes from a sane conservative position: there are coherent arguments, there is data presented, the reader is not patronized.
it is in this respect quite unlike anything in the states.
i prefer the guardian on most questions. for reviews of issues involving economic policy, say, both the economist and the financial times are not bad.

Indeed, not to muddy up the decision, but Financial Times is another excellent publication which you may be interested to look into.

We're talking about the Guardian Weekly - the condensed version of The Guardian newspaper from the UK?

The Guardian is a terrible newspaper with a distinct bias and a shaky grip on the facts. I don't think there can be any comparison to the Economist.

is the financial times the newspaper on the pink paper?

and i've never read the guardian weekly, but i too love the economist. I have never really noticed a conservative bias, and i agree that it is jam packed with content, most of which is interesting.

mobboss: yup

Financial times is also quite spendy though, great, but spendy.