If you don't want content to be free, perhaps you should not make it free? Lots of media IS free (say, Wikipedia) and there's lots of free stuff to read out th

If you don't want content to be free, perhaps you should not make it free? Lots of media IS free (say, Wikipedia) and there's lots of free stuff to read out there on the Web. Similarly there is a lot of paid content going over HTTP, and my Kindle and iTunes apps are full of it. Did someone have to create yet another dull top 10 list or quizzicle? Maybe, but the value of this writing, as determined by what a person would be willing to pay for it, is pretty low, aka essentially nil. Putting this up for free on the Web with advertising is one monetization strategy, but the simple fact that it's up for free doesn't create a reader obligation to look at the ads. Listeners don't have an obligation to contribute to NPR, either: they do so because they value the institution and its media.