That's exactly the point.
This isn't "reporting".
It isn't even good commentary.
The majority of the sites being pimped here on FR (via excerpt) are merely taking a story (this very thread is a perfect case in point) that has been reported over and over again, and simply rehashing it.
They take what others have done and skirt plagiarism by changing a word or two here and there and present it as if you owe them something (via your clicbait support) for telling you what you already know.
If their motivation was really just to "get the word out" then they would have no objection to posting full content here.
We are told over and over how these blog pimps only make pennies on each click. In some cases that might be true. In others it's pure bull.
A heavily monetized site can generate dollars per click - not pennies. Google even runs educational programs for site owners to show them how to do this. I had one such Google "educator" brag to me that he could get close to $5 per hit on a site that he had free reign to design.
Sure - an individual ad might be pennies, but you often get multiple sidebar ads, plus pop-overs, pop-unders, trackers and in the worst cast bots, beacons, trojans and even keystroke loggers.
If these bloggers are truly friends of FreeRepublic, then there's no reason they can't forego their pennies and post full content. The resultant good will thus engendered would be worth far more to them in the long run. And we have a fair number here who have learned that lesson.
And then we have jerks like the OP of this thread who simply refuse to "get it."
So, you are willing to post article excerpts from, “regular media” who one assumes are also making money from clicks, i.e.; The Washington Post, The LA Times, the NY Slimes but we must begrudge bloggers any value?
If I see content that might interest me I click on it (except the Slimes). If I don’t like the add environment I learn to avoid it even though there might be great content i.e.; Breitbart, The Blaze, and, well, I can decide for myself.
The blog police are nearly as tiresome here as the vanity police and the repeat post police. If you don’t want to click on a link, Don’t! I find some poor commentary occasionally contains some bon-mot which is worthy.
Regardless, when conservatives eat their own because they fail some perceived purity test it makes me want to vomit.
This is an aggregating site which serves to draw attention to reporting and opinion and the commentary of our fellow FReepers which may not appear on the original site.
When our observations devolve into bashing other conservatives because they aren’t irreproachable or uncontaminated it cheapens the prerogative of the FReader as surely as terms the left uses; anti-capitalist, misogynist, racist to rebuke and vilify rather than regard and respect.
The mouse is in your hands so choose to click, or not.