It seems right now the best WordPress blogging theme is Newspack.pub by Automaticc (company which runs and owns WordPress.com).

Why? Essentially this is the conspiracy:

WordPress.com and Google “News Initiative” is together in bed, plotting to take over the (news and blog based) internet, to maximize Google’s digital hegemony over advertising (Google Adsense).

Let me explain more in depth:

Open source Newspack

If your site runs WordPress.org (it should), you can get Newspack open source downloads below:

Newspack WordPress.org THEME on GitHub
Newspack WordPress.org Plugin on GitHub

Why Newspack?

Effectively if you utilize Google Amp on your site, install Yoast SEO plugin (I paid $129 for the premium paid version), and use the Newspack theme plugin, you got an “out of the box” perfectly optimized website and blog to be ranked #1 on Google and featured Google “News” reports.