Yes, thank you, I should have been more precise. Within the context of this Tumblr discussion, that comment refers to online platforms and I believe the comment

Yes, thank you, I should have been more precise. Within the context of this Tumblr discussion, that comment refers to online platforms and I believe the comment above does too. Indeed the ad-supported model is or was viable in print for a long time, although we started to see a shift there as well. Today the print media is struggling, ad revenue may no longer be enough to keep most publications afloat. The fact this model still works for some titles and was viable for centuries doesn't make it particularly good either. With an ad-based structure, the independent press ideal was flawed from the start.