> They have to pay the bills somehow. The alternative to "consent or pay" is "pay".
There was plenty of ad funded media before tracking.
Tracking inevitably involves shovelling money from the rest of the world to America. It’s unpatriotic to allow it.
Agreed. The advertisement oligopolies Alphabet and Meta basically destroyed special interest journalism, and regional journalism. These kinds of papers (special interest, regional) had an interest in long-term relationships with their readers, and at least somewhat of an incentive for honest and fair reporting. That's gone out of the window, leading to the SEO and algorithmic engagement wars of today.