Is First News newspaper any good?

[Takver]

Wondering about getting dd (10.5) a subscription.

We both read the news online, so we don't watch tv news / listen to radio and only have a hardcopy paper once a week - so as a result it feels like dd doesn't really have much awareness of current affairs.

Do anyone's dc read First News - is it any good / does it cover general current affairs / does it feel like there's a political slant?

[EcoLady]

I love it! It does cover current affairs. It's worth looking out for offers - sometimes they do the first 3 months of £1, which is brilliant. It's not too heavy on pop/celeb news which seem to feature heavily on Newsound.

[yousankmybattleship]

My children read it at school. I've never seen it myself but they are always telling me interesting little snippets and seem very keen on it.

[scarevola]

I like it, and never thought it had a particular slant.

The Newsround website is good (I haven't watched the actual programme for ages) especially if you want to quickly check some good ways to explain difficult issues to primary age children.

[Takver]

Trial offer sounds like a good idea. I'll try pointing dd in the direction of the Newsround website as well, but tbh she doesn't really use the computer that much, I think a 'real' paper would probably get her attention more.

[vesela]

My nieces have it - the only criticism I would make is that they quite often have government ministers in there explaining why they're doing various things, which is certainly interesting, but although they seem to make up the balance overall in other stories, the pieces by the government ministers in themselves lack the balance you would ordinarily expect in a news story, if you want to give her a feel for that.

That's only the impression I've got from seeing two or three copies at their house, though, and I might be being unfair. It doesn't seem a bad paper overall - it has a lot of talking points in it. A trial offer would be a good way to go.

I've just been looking at their website, and for some reason it seems better than the actual paper.

[Leeds2]

It is sold at my local newsagent, with the comics, so maybe buy a copy and see what you think?

The girls where I work love it, especially the bits about boy bands, Harry Potter and animals. There is some news in there as well though!

[Takver]

Sadly I haven't seen it in any of the newsagents round here. We're going away for the weekend though, so I'll try in the big city!

[JemimaMuddledUp]

I buy it and my two boys (aged 8 and 10) love it. However I also buy the i for myself and my 10 year old often reads that too - I wonder whether he will switch from First News to just reading the i soon, certainly once he is secondary school.

I have a subscription, but it is available in our local WHSmiths.

[goingtobefree]

My dd nearly 12 reads First news and enjoys it. I bought it from a local Tesco few times to make sure that it is worth the subscription. She has had it for nearly a year or so.
Jemma - is it possible to buy i newspaper for weeks rather than 6 month subscription? Sorry for the hijack