On most news sites, the ads are annoying and the sheer weight of the third party tracking and ad javascript make them unusable.

But I've found that a lot of news sites are bearable with javascript disabled. On chrome desktop, you can do that per site via the site settings in the location bar. On iOS, I'm using Quiche browser. It's subscription, but it can disable javascript per site and has auto dark mode functionality.

I like to just have JavaScript disabled by default, and as I encounter a site rarely that isn't usable with JavaScript, I just explicitly allow JavaScript for that domain

It's incredible to see how fresh the web feels and how much better your battery life is when you're not running a bunch of code in every tab you have open

I wouldn't necessarily mind a paid browser if there were a lifetime option. Apparently you weren't kidding about subscription.