I don't think this is correct, though. I think the free content model has actually been spectacularly successful. If you don't agree, I don't know what you've been reading for the last 20-odd years. It just hasn't replicated the form of old magazines.

That's why I think the webmag model has failed but also why I predicted that would happen back when dial-up ruled the country and there was lots of talk about webmags. They are a transitional product, not an endpoint. Blogs, however, are an endpoint and they've only become more important as people have adapted to how web content wants to work.