&gt; There was a time when subscriptions formed a much greater proportion of journalistic income.<p>Actually, that is totally false. Historically, print advertising formed a far greater proportion of newspaper revenue than subscription revenue did.<p>In fact, only in the digital age (and the collapse of advertising revenue) has subscription revenue overtaken advertising for some publications. [0]<p>You&#x27;re mythologizing an imagined past which never existed. Every kind of journalism, from The New Yorker to the NY Post, has consistently been heavily subsidized by advertising to survive, with advertising forming the bulk of revenue.<p>&gt; or other income, like, say, Al Jazeera<p>Personally, I find advertising a much more palatable funding source than pollution from a dictatorship.<p>[0] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.businessinsider.com&#x2F;the-new-york-times-now-gets-more-revenue-from-subscribers-than-advertisers-2013-2" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.businessinsider.com&#x2F;the-new-york-times-now-gets-m...</a>