Wall Street Journal
Shares rank 6 of 15 online magazines by recommenders
Recommended for credible reporting, good writing and a balanced, center-right view. Common caveat: aggressive ads, pop-ups and an owner whose influence critics question.
Recommended for credible reporting, good writing and a balanced, center-right view. Common caveat: aggressive ads, pop-ups and an owner whose influence critics question.
49 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 21
- criticize it
- 28
- approval share
- 43%
Recommended in 12 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 21 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 0.7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 12 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Balanced, center-right viewpoint
“the only true traditional conservative paper that will still call out Trump on his foolishness”
Comment from 21 Nov 2025 in “Larry Ellison discussed axing CNN hosts with White House in takeover bid talks” “maintain a high quality, generally center-right news reporting division”
Comment from 14 May 2026 in “Making the news available at no cost is a victory” “there is real impartiality both as an ideal and in practice”
Comment from 3 Apr 2026 in “Understanding young news audiences at a time of rapid change” - Comment from 4 Jun 2026 in “The desperation of NYTimes”
- Comment from 23 Jan 2026 in “Microsoft gave FBI set of BitLocker encryption keys to unlock suspects' laptops”
- Comment from 4 Jun 2026 in “The desperation of NYTimes”
Credible, high-quality reporting
“WSJ still has one of the best and most credible newsrooms in the business”
Comment from 1 Sep 2026 in “Evidence of Fraud in an Influential Study About Procrastination” “maintain a high quality, generally center-right news reporting division”
Comment from 14 May 2026 in “Making the news available at no cost is a victory” “WSJ reporting on toxic fumes in aircraft has been excellent.”
Comment from 22 Dec 2025 in “Toxic Fumes on Planes Blamed for Deaths of Pilots and Crew” - Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “The Revenge of the Philosophy Majors”
Good writing and headlines
“I also find WSJ is much better at writing good headlines that draw you in”
Comment from 4 Feb 2026 in “How Jeff Bezos Brought Down the Washington Post” “The Wall Street Journal article with no letter 'e's was brilliant.”
Comment from 30 Mar 2026 in “My MacBook Keyboard Is Broken and It's Insanely Expensive to Fix” “covered well by good writers like Matt Levine, WSJ, and others”
Comment from 28 Nov 2025 in “Credit report shows Meta keeping $27B off its books through advanced geometry”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Ads, pop-ups and ad-blocker nags
“always shows me one line of text: Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker”
Comment from 19 Mar 2026 in “'Your Frustration Is the Product'” “they are FILLED with ads/popups/videos that run automatically/dark patterns”
Comment from 2 Apr 2026 in “LinkedIn Is Illegally Searching Your Computer” “rampant sensationalism and FAKE news, along with nag screens”
Comment from 29 Jun 2026 in “WSJ Article Claiming China Has Matched Anthropic Is Obvious Nonsense” - Comment from 18 Jul 2026 in “See How Trump's Truth Social Posts Move Stocks”
Paywall and high long-term pricing
“That makes it a little inconvenient for a regular reader, but serviceable to get at the occasional article.”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: Is archive.is currently broken for WSJ links?” “the Wall Street journal pricing is pretty wild (8 dollars a month for the first 3 months then jumps to much higher)”
Comment from 14 Nov 2025 in “Why do voice transcription apps charge monthly when Whisper runs locally?” “That's a couple thousand dollars a year, just to have a handful of mainstream news sites.”
Comment from 18 Sep 2026 in “South Africa is at risk of becoming a mafia state” - Comment from 2 Feb 2026 in “The Reasons Teens Say No to AI”
Owner influence on coverage
“It had really great long articles backed by real research before it was bought by Murdock.”
Comment from 30 Oct 2026 in “Anthropic may not secure investment-grade rating after IPO, Blackstone says” “they are very much manipulated by what their billionaire owners want you to know”
Comment from 6 Apr 2026 in “When Virality Is the Message: The New Age of AI Propaganda” “This isn't the case for the NYT or WSJ, which have an incentive misalignment.”
Comment from 28 Jan 2026 in “I Stopped Following the News” - Comment from 5 Mar 2026 in “BBC says 'irreversible' trends mean it will not survive without major overhaul”
- Comment from 21 Oct 2026 in “The No Kings Takedown Is Why You Shouldn't Rent Your Megaphone from Zuck”
Declining quality and credibility
“It had really great long articles backed by real research before it was bought by Murdock.”
Comment from 30 Oct 2026 in “Anthropic may not secure investment-grade rating after IPO, Blackstone says” “The WSJ effectively became a lifestyle tabloid. Its devolution has been shocking.”
Comment from 28 Jan 2026 in “I Stopped Following the News” “wsj-slop website that recycles the same logic over and over again”
Comment from 8 Jul 2026 in “AI Giants Are Handing Out Tons of Free Computing Power to Grab Startup Share” - Comment from 5 Feb 2026 in “Is AI the Next Climate Change?”
Other online magazines people recommend
The four most recommended other online magazines, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Economist | 87 | 75 | 54% | 12 | 10 yrs11 owners | — |
| New York Times subscription | 68 | 190 | 26% | 12 | 10 yrs8 owners | — |
| LWN.net subscription | 53 | 14 | 79% | 11 | 22 yrs4 owners | Approved |
| Quanta Magazine | 36 | 20 | 64% | 11 | — | — |
| Wall Street JournalThis page | 21 | 28 | 43% | 12 | — | — |
What people said
40 of the 52 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“It had really great long articles backed by real research before it was bought by Murdock.”
“I would recommend you and others do the same.”
“Old time favourites like Fox and WSJ owned by Murdoch”
“enable javascript and disable ad blockers”
“subscribe to one for a year then switch to another”
“That's a couple thousand dollars a year, just to have a handful of mainstream news sites.”
“WSJ still has one of the best and most credible newsrooms in the business”
“WSJ offers $8/month! ... These are extremely good deals.”
“passive-aggressive response to privacy measures”
“Sad wsj says "Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker"”
“wsj-slop website that recycles the same logic over and over again”
“I think the WSJ is the best news source available”
“rampant sensationalism and FAKE news, along with nag screens”
“For some balance, add the WSJ.”
“to make sure I receive a more balanced viewpoint”
“maintain a high quality, generally center-right news reporting division”
“with a physical piece of paper you can reach the end, it doesn't scroll forever”
“they are very much manipulated by what their billionaire owners want you to know”
“You can still read print media like WAPO, NYT, or WSJ”
“there is real impartiality both as an ideal and in practice”
“they are FILLED with ads/popups/videos that run automatically/dark patterns”
“The Wall Street Journal article with no letter 'e's was brilliant.”
“always shows me one line of text: Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker”
“Says a lot about whether you can trust the WSJ.”
“So much stuff is owned by Murdoch or by some other mogul.”
“like WSJ, Bloomb, FT, and many other bad actors”
“WSJ has minimal factual credibility at this point”
“I also find WSJ is much better at writing good headlines that draw you in”
“the worst offenders: Wall Street Journal, Financial Times (FT) and Bloomberg most notably”
“Couldn't read the article because WSJ is paywalled”
“That makes it a little inconvenient for a regular reader, but serviceable to get at the occasional article.”
“This isn't the case for the NYT or WSJ, which have an incentive misalignment.”
“The WSJ effectively became a lifestyle tabloid. Its devolution has been shocking.”
“Good article on the front page of the Wall Street Journal with cleaned/stabilized versions of the videos, synchronized from multiple perspectives.”
“they typically provide a much more nuanced view”
“WSJ reporting on toxic fumes in aircraft has been excellent.”
“So just stay on top of it for a few weeks, see some trends, etc.”
“covered well by good writers like Matt Levine, WSJ, and others”
“the only true traditional conservative paper that will still call out Trump on his foolishness”
“the Wall Street journal pricing is pretty wild (8 dollars a month for the first 3 months then jumps to much higher)”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.