I'm sorry but Netflix may be $9 a month for the service, but that is still cheaper than what you'd pay going to a movie theater. Instead of spending the money on gas and then the tickets and any snacks and drinks you get, or mass transit in lieu of driving. If I needed to read a news article, then I would much rather buy the news paper than having to pay online for it.
Where security is concerned, that is one thing but even that isn't a guarantee. I am sure that the big companies that were victims of the attacks spared no expense where security was concerned, but look at what happened anyway? I am sorry but in a world where people need to hold on to their jobs so that they can pay for the tangible things needed for survival, such as food, water, rent or mortgage to keep a roof over their heads, clothing, tuition since many are going back to school to improve their odds of getting a better paying job, utilities and gas or mass transit to get where they have to go, are things that are much more important than reading an well written article, high quality photos or videos online.
Previous generations didn't need these things to live their lives, all they needed was the things I mentioned in addition to local news, so they can find out if the serial killer or rapist that was terrorizing their community had been caught, weather, so that they had an idea of what to wear the next day, sports, to check up on their favorite teams and players, and stock, so they can check up on their investments and to see if they'll be soon out of a job, and depending on their work shift, am or pm traffic and transit reports so that they know what what train or bus lines have delays and what roads to avoid because of heavy traffic.
These basic news items can be gotten from any newspaper or broadcast TV station, and being what they are, they HAVE to be accurate as people's lives are dependent on this info, and so, there isn't as much room for error, or personal slant. Previous generations were able to get this info before without paying online, and even before the Internet became what it is today.. Whether it was because they watched TV, listened to the radio, or even read the newspaper to get it, they were still able to get this info regardless.
And about the ads, here's the thing, either use an adblocker, beef up your ad blocking via firewall by banning the ips, or disable JavaScript and you won't see them. I can do this just as easily in my browser with a simple click. No need to pay for an ad free experience that isn't guaranteed. Besides, if I am on the website, listening to the radio or watching the news for important info, then I am not going to let a silly little thing like ads and commercials deter me from that, especially since I know that the ads keep the radio free, I can disable them online using the methods I mentioned, and I can pause, and fast forward through the ads on my DVR. Even if I didn't have DVR, the commercials are not going to deter me from the important info that I'd be listening out for.
That being said, I don't see why we would need to pay for extraneous bells and whistles for something that has to be accurate regardless, because of the level of importance of these reports. Paying for something that you can get for free doesn't seem like a wise thing to do, especially in a world where people are struggling just to keep keep roofs over their heads, clothes on their backs and food on their tables and keep up with basic necessities.
Perhaps my definition of "need" is different from yours in that respect.
