It's annoying, it disrupts the discussion on HN (there are several top-level threads discussing the paywall and accessibility of the content, dang has edited the URL to a freely available link).
I'm aware that the news industry has its revenue challenges (and just wrote a fairly lengthy comment on some of those issues: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7692730). But at the same time, if a particular news organization makes the determination that it's not going to provide its content generally, then general discussion sites are just as free to decide that they're not going to link back and refer to the site.
I'd argue that the vast decline in the already shaky standard of WSJ's reportage since being acquired by the Murdoch Disinformation Empire doesn't do much to favor it either.
I'm aware that the news industry has its revenue challenges (and just wrote a fairly lengthy comment on some of those issues: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7692730). But at the same time, if a particular news organization makes the determination that it's not going to provide its content generally, then general discussion sites are just as free to decide that they're not going to link back and refer to the site.
I'd argue that the vast decline in the already shaky standard of WSJ's reportage since being acquired by the Murdoch Disinformation Empire doesn't do much to favor it either.