It’s Time To Pony Up. Why Good Websites Shouldn't Be Free.
newsweek.com
newsweek.com
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200907/news-magazines
They're doing a good job at grooming their audience, but I think all that will happen is that they'll accelerate their own downfall.
I'm really sorry for newsweek and all those other publications that are going to die because some of them really have something to contribute but their model has been solidly disrupted, people no longer want to pay for content so you either find a way to accommodate that or you will have to die out. This is not necessarily a good thing but it is inevitable.
Really, we need to get back to purist capitalist principles for the web: if something provides "value", it should cost money. The culture of free has gone on way too long though, and I suspect users are just too spoiled.
Google gives everything away a lot for free and makes a ton of money, so obviously it's not giving stuff away that the problem -- Its outdated notions of how their business should be operating and what their value add is.