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.
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".
