Key part of that article:
"Slovakia has a population of only 5.7m, it is also the only country in which the Slovak language is universally spoken. This language isolation makes it easier for the market to be harnessed in this way"
"Slovakia has a population of only 5.7m, it is also the only country in which the Slovak language is universally spoken. This language isolation makes it easier for the market to be harnessed in this way"
However, it is not necessary. Not all news sites are putting up the paywall and even those that are, they are not doing it for wire news (SME and Pravda are doing it for opinion pages, occasional "premium articles" and discussion boards).
SME tried it in the past and it was a failure, that did them more damage than improvements; this time they tried to cooperate among publishers and do it at the same time, but they still do not have critical mass. Most people that didn't drink the cool-aid expect it to fail again.
If Slovakians are willing to pay for news then they'll pay otherwise they won't, just like every other commodity.