The difference between $0.00 and $0.01 is infinite.

But I’m really curious how bad the free experience would have to become before people are open to paying a pittance?

The free experience on the site for every small town newspaper or tv station is horrific. Genuinely among the worst, least usable websites on the internet.

The problem is that the horrendousness doesn’t drive people to pay, it drives them to social media.

And a big part of this is that local papers consider their online presence secondary to print. So paying will get you a physical newspaper and unlimited access to the worst site in the world

OK but the difference between $0.00 and $0.01 is also 1 cent.

Easier to just not be informed about local events.