What good papers have all this nonsense these days? I am subscribed to NYT and LA times, I read the occasional article from the atlantic or new yorker, and I've seen none of this. Good content is behind paywalls for a reason. It isn't there solely to draw in your eyes for ads, its there just to be good and informative content on its own right, and maybe if its good enough you'd be willing to chip in a little for the salaries of the full time staff that put that good content together for you. LA times and NYT are a dollar a week a piece, a drop in the bucket and well worth it imo.

Maybe your local news 5 or something small market like that is a dumpster fire, but publications that have shifted to the online subscription model are absolutely fine as they bank on their quality alone (unless my ad blocking has hid all this from me).