My parents first subscribed to the Washington Post in 1970, when we moved to what is now known colloquially as “the DMV.” As a ten year-old boy growing-up in Rockville, I started out reading the comics, Parade magazine, and, of course, the TV guide. When I was 12, the Post began its investigative reporting into the break-in at DNC headquarters in the Watergate complex. I slowly began reading the national and international news sections, and before long I was hooked. I have been a regular reader for more than 50 years. Thankfully, “the paper” entered the virtual world about the same time my job took me overseas, so I never had to do without the Post’s balanced, comprehensive, and tightly written reporting. As an aside, my first paid job was as a Washington Post delivery boy (sic) in the early 1970s. I have had an aversion to starting work before sunrise ever since. I do not believe that any American can consider himself or herself “well-informed” without reading the Washington Post and/or the New York Times (preferably both) every day. Yes, both outlets are a degree or two left of center when it comes to the news they choose to highlight, but an intelligent reader knows this and can discount it when necessary. None of the center-right outlets, with the intermittent exception of the Wall Street Journal, is on the same journalistic level as the Post or the NYT.

My husband and I live in Nebraska. We actually have two homes, a shouse in northeast Nebraska and a home in Lincoln. It has given us both great anxiety in recent years to see what has happened to our democracy. My grandfather immigrated from Sweden. He deeply treasured the opportunities that were afforded to him and other family members when they came to the United States. He prided himself on being politically astute. That desire to know what is happening in our beloved country and to participate in the political process was passed on to his family. My husband and I were Peace Corps volunteers in the 60’s and we lived and worked in 6 other countries. We have been proud to be citizens of the United States. We have great difficulty understanding the behavior of a significant number of our present day politicians. In spite of all this, we strive to stay informed about our country now and about what may happen in the not so distant future. We greatly appreciate the work of the Washington Post to keep us informed about the State of our Nation! Thank you!

The other day I noticed on a couple media bias graphs that the WP was dead center with the highest amount of original content. As someone who doesn’t fit in either political party I have been longing for a news source that works hard to see both sides, like I do. So, when I saw the graphs I decided to order a subscription at a promo price that seemed generous. The first two days I read as much as I could and seemed to be getting what I had hoped for. Then yesterday I opened the app and was dismayed at what I saw yesterday. Four out of the six featured pieces were obviously left leaning on the issues of state rights, abortion, and the use of presidential power (9/5/21). Were the other two right leaning to at least attempt to give a little balance? No, they were not. They were about items that didn’t have a political impact. I’m going to give the Post a couple more weeks to try to prove me wrong on this, but I’m not all that hopeful. Has the news media swung so far left in general that the Post just looks centrist by comparison?I love the way the app is arranged. But I do have a complaint about the search feature. I searched for articles on Indonesia and got several hits from a couple of weeks ago. When I attempted to click on the links the only place they sent me was back to the front page of the current day.

I don’t walk around in the daylight with a lit lamp but like Diogenes I always seem to be searching for an honest man in my everyday life and in the media. I subscribe to WAPO because it more often than not holds a reasonable attitude and attempts to maintain a democratic humanistic position when reporting on world events. Unfortunately, like all the media of today it struggles to pry attention away from the melee of social media and in doing so falls prey to the hunger for attention it like others in major media considers it needs and in so doing will attempt to use sensationalism. One clear criticism I hold is the unbalanced treatment given to the Hamas terrorists who knowingly use its citizens as political hostages, pawns, and martyrs in order to garner world wide sympathy in their over reaching propaganda war. Not clearly exposing Hamas’ admitted tactics in a very clear way with the appropriate horror and sustain in order to pander to uneducated and I’ll informed students is unwelcome and unworthy. I strongly urge you to not only step away from sensationalism but to make ridicule of it and actively wage war against it.Make that your platform with all the righteous passionate driven purpose you can. Your strength can be in is in the truth the WAPO lantern can provide. Shine brightly.