The people that were paying that money to buy the paper version of the newspaper, for example. There are people that might find enough value in the journalism

The people that were paying that money to buy the paper version of the newspaper, for example. There are people that might find enough value in the journalism of the Boston Globe to want to spend that kind of money on it, compared to the "entire internet" that can be, broadly, not the most reliable source of information (wether the Boston Globe is a good newspaper I have no idea, but it might be for some people). That is a completely different discussion than looking at the deceptive tactics they use to make people that don't want to pay that amount to actually subscribe.