Please hear me, I still believe this is a capitalistic country and if you produce "it," you have every right to charge for the sweat of your labor. But it's extremely difficult when you first give it away to later start charging especially after years of giving it away under an advertising model. Look at the Wall Street Journal, they made pay online subscription a part of their model from the beginning and no one complained, if you wanted the WSJ it cost you - period.
I have a question, if I pay for content am I not entitled to receive it un-encumbered without advertising? Here are some...
Surprise, Surprise - People Won't Pay for Online Content
I love my online newspaper, whatever format. I cannot imagine having a tree delivered to my front door seven days a week anymore. But I do know, that there are people who want the touch and feel of the traditional newspaper. This appeared at ReadWriteWeb dot com in an article titled, "80% of US Consumers Won't Pay For Online Content." Written by Frederic Lardinois / November 16, 2009.
According to a new Forrester survey, almost 80% of Internet users in the US and Canada would not pay for access to newspaper and magazine websites....