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n00dlejester OP t1_iy3nb6p wrote

Submission Statement: For the first time in a little while, I visited nj.com to read an article about RU Football. The page wouldn't finish loading, because my blocker plugin counted 126 TRACKING AND MARKETING APPLICATIONS ON THE SITE!! Quite literally all of the content was labeled as ad content, or actually was ad content. This site is absolutely disgusting.

In perspective, ESPN.com has 21, Facebook has 6, CNN has 90, and FoxNews has 51.

So what are some good alternatives to NJ.com for local and NJ news?

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dashingpandas t1_iy3qt9f wrote

I also frequent the Patch for my local news. UBlock Origin blocked 13 ads there (compared to 9 on this current Reddit page, and 14 on nj.com). Edit: Those counts probably aren't accurate since I have multiple extensions blocking ads.

In a private window with just Ghostery running I get:

NJ: 27 ; Patch: 13; Reddit: 4

Not sure how OP got over 100 on NJ.com.

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shbd12 t1_iy3rtba wrote

Patch news is pretty lame, but so is NJ.com. it's a local news desert, sadly.

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masterofmayhem13 t1_iy3stbv wrote

It's not a local news desert. There are a ton of opportunities for local news (NJ.com, patch, APP, etc...). They ALL however are heavily monetized and you have to deal with this. It is annoying, however is it really any different than paying for cable and sitting through all the commercials and sponsorships on news12? It sucks outright, and I am always looking for a better way to get my local news, but NJ is definitely not a news desert.

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EbolaFred t1_iy49adf wrote

I have ZERO issue with sites monetizing to pay their bills.

But there's a huge difference between lots of ads and the site being usable, e.g. CNN and Fox, and so laden with ads and trackers that the site doesn't even render half the time, e.g. nj.com and some of the other mainstream news sites.

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mattemer t1_iy6szpk wrote

Can we all agree that the weather channels website is the worst?

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love2Vax t1_iy547s3 wrote

I have loading and rendering issues all the time on nj.com. it sucks, but there are times when it is the best source of info, so I still look from time to time.

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CaptnSisko t1_iy3u6b1 wrote

APP used to be great (content probably still is) but their website and APP are horrible. I used to get the paper delivered 7 days a week when it was like $40/month or so for the delivery. Once they jacked it up to like $80/month I had to stop it. I called and got a lower rate a few times but every three months they wanted to raise it back up. I'm sure with less people getting the paper delivered the $40 wasn't covering the costs.

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dashingpandas t1_iy3s3bj wrote

Definitely lame, but occasional local stuff pops up that's useful.

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_TommySalami t1_iy3rs5s wrote

I just https://njspotlightnews.com and https://newjerseymonitor.com/

And since I'm in South Jersey, the Philly Inquirer. Which has its issues, but at least their website looks like a news website and not buzzfeed from 2008. "25 best storebought snacks! 17 things you didn't know about American Dream Mall!" and they paywall anything worth reading.

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crustang t1_iy4p5jd wrote

Politi gotta eat somehow

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n00dlejester OP t1_iy53wei wrote

We all know Schiano feeds Politi with those BDSM ball gags. We're all masochists for our Scarlet Knights.

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hopopo t1_iy3pd5h wrote

Check nba.com they used to be horrible as well.

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sirzoop t1_iy3pop4 wrote

How many does Reddit have? Twitter? Facebook?

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PastelFlamingo150 t1_iy3ub5j wrote

Use Privacy Badger to automatically block trackers along with uBlock Origin and DuckDuckGo

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TheFotty t1_iy5ce1q wrote

I am just curious how by that own apps stats, 21+7 = 126? What do the two purple colors represent in the chart? The things it found but didn't block?

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compaholic83 t1_iy5nkvy wrote

Serves you right for looking up RU after that abysmal game this past weekend. gif

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