I agree, that's why I left the hill still alive. :)

It's incredible how people are chastising you for having skin in the game

In what way?

When you view it through the lens of "journalism dies without money, and local journalism survives on ads", I can see some nobility in it.

You're probably better off sponsoring some journalism directly instead.

The guardian has a supporter tier. Some local news stations where I live have memberships with minor benefits.

Subscriptions? Could be a local thing but in my country newspapers have always been paid with them. News has never been assumed "free" until the internet came around. In fact the first newspapers all the way back to the 17th century were intended for diplomats, nobility and merchants. Free news is usually shite anyway.

>the internet came around

Yes, it did.

I have subscribed (and might still be subscribed) to several news magazines and papers, though not my local. It's kind a circular drain of "lower pay > lower quality > fewer subscribers > lower pay".

So subscribe and pay them directly. From all metrics I've seen direct payment is the most efficient vs merch, super chats, and views themselves. Pay for premium.