> We need a way to pay a few cents to read an article, ad and tracker free.
Blendle[1] is exactly that. They are in semi-private beta, but if you follow a link from their twitter[2] you can sign up right away.
Their model is put a few dollars in your account and pay $0.10-$1.00 per article. You can also get an instant refund after you've read, which is supposed to solve clickbait type articles.
They have a lot of major publishers including WaPo, NYT, WSJ, Economist, etc.
Not affiliated, just a satisfied user.