"If a well-regarded general-interest site churning out daily, consistent, professional-grade content can convince only 1% of its readership to part with $30 a year, you might as well take the Web subscription model out behind the barn and distract it just long enough to put the shotgun to the back of its head. "

This is a cynical view. The financial specifics are interesting.

This is just funny: (from Salons Premium page)

Salon Premium: It just gets better
Arianna Huffington explains why you should subscribe.

Let it be known that I will never buy anything promoted by Arianna Huffington...

Salon.com's subscription model.