One of the downsides of the paywall model. Back when we read physical newspapers, ads, especially classifieds, paid for the majority of newspaper budgets. We, the readers, mostly paid for the paper it was printed on. https://twitter.com/BrainWorldMag/status/1348401251726323712

Craigslist and the job sites delivered the hardest hit to newsrooms. The other major hit was local and national tv networks providing their product online free of charge, as their budgets continue to be funded by ads and cable subscriptions.

Ultimately improving the quality of news is a two-pronged problem: a funding problem and a demand problem.

Especially as social media websites continue to drive lower-quality aggregators, from Raw Story to Breitbart, curated to users' social media profiles, there is demand for reporting that fits people's biases.

Beyond the advantage that they get from being driven by social media, these aggregators have another advantage: all free. Problem there: they are often funded by dark money. (See #WhoFundsTheFederalist). They don't have to worry about business models like legacy media do.