In all fairness: I don't remember my local newspaper or USA Today subscriptions being free back in the day.
The comeback though is that one could usually read most of the newspapers for free in the local library (at least here you could). And at least you could fairly regularly find yesterday's paper (or even today's) left lying around on the train or in a cafe. (Pretty much the main way I'd ever know what they were saying in the Daily Mail or the Telegraph, or all the other right-wing papers I wouldn't dream of giving money to)
Paywalled websites are potentially less-accessible than printed newspapers used to be, in that respect. When you have to pay for a site subscription you are less likely to ever encounter news reported from a political angle that you don't agree with. Why would you pay money to a website that pisses you off?