The 'Brand Safety' and 'Suitability' industries have financially crushed the news business by keeping ads away from articles that its 'sentiment analysis' algorithms think will make people sad or upset.
So the answer to, “Do you pay for journalism?” is, “no”.
It’s great that you have free, ad-supported news that you enjoy. But complaints about “the outsized influence of ad-money” seem pretty hypocritical when you choose not to pay.
(I realize you were not the original commenter complaining about the influence of ad money, but you picked up the ball so I’m responding to you.)
So the answer to, “Do you pay for journalism?” is, “no”.
It’s great that you have free, ad-supported news that you enjoy. But complaints about “the outsized influence of ad-money” seem pretty hypocritical when you choose not to pay.
(I realize you were not the original commenter complaining about the influence of ad money, but you picked up the ball so I’m responding to you.)