There needs to be a balance between wanting things "for free" and viewing ads (especially for news sites).

It's gotten really aggressive the past few years, especially for local news, mostly because they were ill-prepared for the shift in advertising.

Staff cuts (as ad revenue plummeted) surely included all of the "web people" with that work being outsourced.

Many local news shops are hanging on by a thread; unfortunately that thread is reinforced by their website carpeted in advertising.