They're paying more attention to it's purpose - LOCAL news and native columnists...and halved the price for print edition.
Much of the local news is free with the on-line version but most of us columnists are behind the lock-box - requiring either a 99 cent one time, one article read or a yearly fee at $39. If I didn't get both free, as a writer's perk, I wouldn't be reading it.
That said, I can understand why there isn't total free access to the on-line site. Too many wouldn't bother picking up the print version. I'm just a skinflint.
The only thing that keeps the local weeklies afloat here in Louisiana is the paid legal ads that local governments publish there. The ads are mandated by state law. You should see the newspaper lobby flock to Baton Rouge whenever that issue is heard in committee.
It’s welfare for newspapers, since such stuff could be put online and be much more accessible to more people at a fraction of the cost of having it printed.