I read my national newspaper just the same as I browse 9Gag. They both compete for my leisure time. If they closed, I would probably read a book instead. News are optional, until they enable me to discuss with high educated people - but again, HN is free and provides much higher-quality education (when you include discussions in the comments) than any newspaper. So I'd pay for HN, I'd pay for some investigative journalism (e.g. Snowden leaks), but the rest of the news is leisure at a low price point per hour. Just like a book.