re: Mainstream media
If they don't want people reading their articles for free, they're welcome to put them behind a subscription wall. The New York Times tried it, and it blew up in their face.
I try to link to original news items whenever I can, and avoid reprinting entire stories. Heck, I get grief around here all the time for not reprinting any of a story!
I suspect that most hits on a particular news article on a news website are probably due to other people linking to it and calling it out to their readers. Maybe their advertisers should think about that.
