Pretty much all of the solutions that the author proposes for dealing with freelancers involved fixed fees per article. But if revenue is determined by unique v

Pretty much all of the solutions that the author proposes for dealing with freelancers involved fixed fees per article. But if revenue is determined by unique visitors, why not just pay authors based on a royalty? This, perhaps coupled with an appropriate sized advance would ensure that authors were being rewarded for successful work, and that The Atlantic wouldn't be pouring money into stories that only get 1,000 hits. Given that major news can be broken over Twitter in 140 characters, paying by the word seems incredibly antiquated.