The Economist Reviews 

We recently sponsored a webinar with Economist Impact at a very high price point of $70K and the experience was very disappointing, not only for us as the vendor but for the webinar attendees as well. The communication from their editorial team was disorganized. The webinar software platform used was not user friendly. The moderator was limiting organic conversation from executives at Vanguard, Walmart and more. 65% of lead information was not shared and follow ups from Economist Impact were delayed.

Great journalism, terrible subscription service. My discounted subscription got cancelled (partly my fault, to be fair), I wanted to re-activate it. Indranita and Jom confirmed explicitly the discounted rate but asked me to contact their UK/EMEA phone no. which did not work (at least from Germany). Then I was asked to contact them via chat where Samuel P just stopped the conversation abruptly without answering my question. Finally I received an email from Karthik confirming he "understands my concerns" and he cannot offer me anything. Summing up, I was sent running around in circles for 1 week, with completely contradictory feedback and a highly unprofessionally "service"

Critique of “I Spent 500 Days as a Hostage of Hamas” – The Economist

The Economist’s article “I Spent 500 Days as a Hostage of Hamas”, published in the 1843 Reportage section, presents a narrowly focused narrative that reveals a deeply concerning editorial bias. Rather than offering a balanced or contextualized view of the conflict, the piece reinforces a one-sided, dehumanizing portrayal that aligns with long-standing Western media tropes — notably, framing Israel as the perpetual victim and Palestinians, particularly Hamas, as inhuman aggressors.

Distortion by Omission

The article completely ignores the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza. Over 2 million civilians face acute shortages of food, water, and medical supplies — fundamental human rights systematically denied due to a years-long blockade and ongoing military operations. Thousands of homes have been destroyed, entire families wiped out, and civilian infrastructure obliterated. This is not collateral damage — it is mass suffering inflicted on a population with no safe haven.

Yet, in this article, The Economist chooses to highlight the suffering of one individual, without acknowledging — let alone questioning — the broader context of Israeli occupation, collective punishment, and daily violations of international law. There is no mention of why Hamas exists, what led to their attacks, or the desperation and trauma imposed on generations of Palestinians.

Reinforcing a Dangerous Narrative

By presenting Hamas as mere “beasts” who steal and torture, the article denies readers the chance to understand the motivations, history, and systemic injustices that drive the conflict. It does not distinguish between resistance and terrorism, between civilian and militant, or between fact and propaganda. This kind of narrative emboldens public opinion that justifies indiscriminate military retaliation against an entire population — not just fighters.

A Failure of Responsible Journalism

Elite publications like The Economist carry influence — and with that comes responsibility. The failure to present even a minimal degree of balance in this article is not just lazy journalism; it is complicity in a narrative that whitewashes war crimes and silences the suffering of a colonized and brutalized people. When global media serves only one side of the story, it contributes to the continuation of violence and injustice.

Conclusion

This article is not just biased — it is ethically troubling. In spotlighting the pain of one Israeli while ignoring the annihilation of thousands of Palestinians, The Economist undermines its own credibility and dignity as a journalistic institution. True reporting demands more than sensationalism — it demands truth, context, and humanity. This piece offers none.

us poorer folks, the voting public, cannot afford the cost to be excellently informed, given the cost of politico!
We are not all ignorant folks who can't begin to afford the adroit insights into world affaires as is solely provided.
Surely the availability of your publication 'to folks whose priority is survival', Counts?
One gotta be rich to ever afford adroit reporting of world affairs. Us 'others', the ill informed, the majorities across borders, who despise the atrocities, further suffer the unaffordability to subscribe.
Shame on you for your elitism. .. How pretentious to give a hell, or hail, to the real world .. us folks who'd never be able to afford the knowledge of world affaires to learn how we must strive to survive.

I've had late delivery almost every week this year despite contacting them at least 10 times to complain. I have now cancelled my subscription.
Great newspaper, appalling delivery service.

Customer Service is non-existent. I paid for a years subscription and received nothing. No amount of time with customer Service could resolve the issue.

Expresso subscription of $8.90 to read 3 articles?

Ripoff.
No tech support.

Sad since I wanted to pay them $9 a month to read their insights.

Signed up to a trial, and cancelled the trial before it ended. And then still got charged for 3 months without knowing. The account I signed up for on the trial was gmail.com, the account I was charged for after the trial was googlemail.com.

On the live chat support, my subscription was cancelled after a lot of back and forth, and they told me they would have to pass the issue of a refund for the 3 months on to another team, who would take 3-05 days to review and would be in touch.

Really disappointing from a brand like the Economist. Won't be subscribing online any time soon.

I’ve been loyal to the Economist for years.
But something has happened with deliveries in the last few months.
My copies haven’t arrived,
When I complain nothing is done. Emails go round in circles. I ask for a refund and cancellation a few times. But they do nothing. No refund. So I’ve cancelled via the site.
I can only assume, since the Royal Mail were delivering perfectly that they’ve outsourced to a cheaper firm.
Really really awful service and customer service non existent or bots.
AVOID.

Beware. If you subscribe to this you will have no option to unsubscribe. A really terrible service which should not be allowed to be digital.

An update. I contacted Google who can not find the subscription. The economist have confirmed they are charging me. There is no active subscription on my Google account. The economist have washed their hands of the whole matter.

Be warned. If you take a subscription you will not be able to cancel whilst not being able to stop the money leaving your account.

Terrible customer service. They are breaking every UK consumer law in the country. So now I am being forced to take them to small claims. A waste of my time but I intend to do it as a matter of principle.

Their unethical journalism is dying as the age of denctralised news spreads so they're actually defrauding their customers while still in business.

I am absolutely appalled by the shocking level of customer service at The Economist. For a publication that prides itself on intelligence and global standards, their after-sales service is nothing short of disgraceful. Trying to cancel my subscription has been a nightmare — the chatbot is useless, the website is a maze, and getting in touch with an actual human being feels like a bad joke.

I’ve wasted hours navigating their broken system, only to be met with automated dead ends and unresponsive links. Their so-called “customer support” is an insult to paying subscribers. This is not just poor service — it's deliberate obstruction.

It’s outrageous that a globally respected magazine treats its subscribers with such contempt. I expected professionalism and transparency, but all I’ve received is frustration and disrespect. I will never subscribe again, and I strongly urge others to think twice before giving them a cent.

No way to cancel the subscription online. Chat with customer service was endless, cutting off the chat by asking to log out and log in again... smart... You loose the energy to start the conversation all over again.

I have been a subscriber for many years. This year's renewal was more than I could afford so I called them and spoke to someone called "Daisy" (the call centre has clearly now been offshored). Daisy made me an offer for a two year subscription at a better price and I accepted the offer. However, there was no way in my online account to accept the offer and it wasn't even visible. Since then, despite many emails sent without response and two phone calls to utterly useless people who clearly were unable/unwilling to help, I'm told it is with a supervisor (apparently us customers are not allowed to speak to such people) and will take 3-5 working days to be resolved. Unacceptable. Even more unacceptable that I have to chase them in order to subscribe to their magazine. I am on the verge of giving up and trying something else such as the Atlantic.

Many reviews advising that that cancellation process is ridiculous/tortuous. However, i encountered the inverse effect.

Tried to subscribe (several times), have an email address already registered with them from years ago but can't remember the password so followed directions for a password reset- to date I've not received a reset email (not in spam either before they ask).

Impulse purchase missed, I'll stick with The Times

Probably the best journalism out there.
And that comes at a price. While I do not appreciate much higher than inflation price hikes, I have to admit that the Economist is probably the last media I'll cancel on my roster, for the quality of its editing and its coverage of both hot and cold news.
In a period of increased polarization, I appreciate the Economist's rigor and it's ability to look further than standard media partisan biases, in the US, Europe and elsewhere.

Most likely illegal price increases (64€ more than last year for my subscription; in 2024 72€ more than 2023), over 5 times UK or EU inflation rates, with no notification in advance, obligatory if there is an increase. Just debited from my bank, no explanation. Like every year...
Fed up of arguing each year by email in French with usually incompetent people in the Paris sub contractor's office (I used to receive the magazine there). Also fed up with more and more of the coverage being American-centric, even the Culture pages now. The journalists remain anonymous, part of the Economist mystique but surely not de rigueur for a free press in the age of AI & co, and if you write a letter to critique an article you have to give your name and location! Very undemocratic, not what one expects from a free press. In the age of social media, few of us want to then be open to cybermobbing (women especially at risk, so am unsurprised to see so few women writing in); a great way for a publication to ensure they keep critical comments to a minimum. Most other publications of this calibre share (and moderate) comments and are more open to criticism. Some columns still good, so it's hard to give it up, and often a good tool for teaching esp with the audio & digital version, but definitely looking for alternatives. Also with less of the 'growth, growth über alles' economics worldview, which is simply out of date.

How do I get this bog roll from continually appearing on my iPhone.
Garbage doesn’t give it justice. F’ing Garbage is more like it.
Should be banned!

Extremely difficult to cancel auto renewal. I subscribed on an annual basis. I am enjoying the information, the articles are very good. However, I received an email saying the subscription would be renewed with a price increase next January. I figured I would shut off auto renewal and see if I can afford it in Jan 2026. Wow, trying to cancel auto renewal is a real hassle. I ended up in a chat with a very aggressive representative, who tried to get me to agree to renew with a discount or change to a cheaper plan. I was finally able to cancel auto renewal but it should never be so difficult to do this at a reputable company.

Don't answer with the usual response. The Economist clearly doesn't care how they treat customers or they would have changed their approach. Their adds say you can cancel auto renewal at any time. Don't believe it! Not a very good way to get new customers or keep existing ones. I probably would have renewed. I'll think twice now.

They never send the magazine and won't refund my money.

I have been a subscriber for 44 years but the annual renewal process has become increasingly hard and this year, regretfully, I have snapped and cancelled my subscription. I have an annual direct debit which the Economist take without notification. The sum they took was more than twice my current subscription! You then have to go into the annual haggle as to how much an appropriate increase might be, this year I just gave up out of exasperation. To add insult to injury they did not refund all the money they took.

How can such a great publication, such splendid journalism be hijacked by such ridiculously abysmal front of house customer care?