I've always thought that a possible compromise between per article micro-payments of a few cents and monthly subscriptions might be daily or weekly one off paym

I've always thought that a possible compromise between per article micro-payments of a few cents and monthly subscriptions might be daily or weekly one off payments. You could visit a site and read an article or two for free so you have some idea of the quality and then have the option of paying something like $2-5 for full access for a day or week with no obligation to unsubscribe because it really is a simple payment - like purchasing the daily/weekly paper. This might work better for online magazines or blogs that publish relatively few articles than for newspapers that feel they may have a better chance of attracting traditional subscribers.