The Guardian's funding model [0] proves this wrong.

People will absolutely pay for things voluntarily if you ask them, without forcing them to.

[0] https://www.theguardian.com/membership/2018/nov/12/katharine...

In a nutshell - voluntary funding by readership. No paywall. You can read as many stories as you like for free, and donate if you want. It works.

I've always wondered how they are actually making ends meet, if at all, that is, what their budget looks like.-