Perhaps some people value this discussion (on HN, for example) far more than the publication as a whole. So it's worthwhile to jump through a few hoops to read

Perhaps some people value this discussion (on HN, for example) far more than the publication as a whole. So it's worthwhile to jump through a few hoops to read the article and participate here, but not so worthwhile to maintain a paid online subscription. If these publications were smart, they would find ways to capture this kind of higher quality conversation/participation. But I don't have the answers there.