> Some may argue that, from a business standpoint, not charging for stories primarily relying on public records automatically means fewer subscriptions and therefore less revenue (…)
> while some readers might not subscribe to outlets that give away some of their best journalism for free, *it’s just as possible that readers will recognize this sacrifice* and reward these outlets with more traffic and subscriptions in the long run.<p>(emphasis is mine)<p>Not, the outcimes are not as likely. This is the same argument that switching to foss and donation-based model would not result in income-loss compared to traditional business model.<p>We know from experience it does not financially work for a (very) large majority of products.<p>I laud Wired’s initiative but I hope they have considered it as a net-loss of income.