I see it in reverse: the reason some news sites struggle to make money is their belief in a broken business model that's perpetuated by mega-corps like Google.

I see it in reverse: the reason some news sites struggle to make money is their belief in a broken business model that's perpetuated by mega-corps like Google. The rules of the game are rigged; house always wins. The only way to win is to not play. I wouldn't say this "justifies" a service like 12ft.io, but such services are inevitable.