I think they'd have pressure not to write clickbait articles. At present, clickbait works because it makes money by driving ad impressions. Many readers don't

I think they'd have pressure not to write clickbait articles. At present, clickbait works because it makes money by driving ad impressions. Many readers don't even mind wasting time on such content, and those who do quickly move on. The downside to the publications churning out clickbait is minimal, because the readers have little investment in the product. But once people are paying their own money to read articles (even a nominal amount), their attitude to clickbait will change. After they've been burned a couple of times by a particular outlet, they won't pay them for any more of their articles. But they will return to those outlets that provide value for money. Presumably, most people will still stick to low quality but free sources, but I think there's a potentially substantial market for high quality content, if the price is right. The big question is, will the amount people are willing to pay cover the costs? Real journalism can be expensive.