The implications here for the information ecosystem are pretty ominous. axios.com/pro-trump-medi… 
The media moving to a subscription model are legacy institutions that have invested heavily in reporting. axios.com/news-media-pay…
The mainstream outlets need to move to a subscription model because they operate as businesses and the collapse in print and online advertising leaves that as the best available option. But putting up paywalls inevitably curtails influence by limiting who can view the work.
There are a couple of different things happening on the conservative side. One is that, because Trump is overwhelmingly popular among Republicans, if you are trying to tap the largest possible audience, your content is going to be pro-Trump, or at least anti-anti-Trump.
But conservative media tends to be run, at least in part, as an influence play, not purely a business one. One or more right-wing moguls fund a conservative media outlet because they believe its content helps bring about the change they wish to see in the world.
The moguls are willing to leave money on the table to do that. When Sinclair buys a station, its programming becomes more conservative and its viewership drops. The Smith family is willing to accept lower viewership to influence the debate. vox.com/2018/4/3/17180…
Similarly, a study found that Fox News was maximizing its influence, but but not its viewership. The network willingly sacrifices viewers to increase its ability to persuade the viewers it has to become more conservative.
The implications for Never Trumpers at conservative media outlets seem pretty bad. The longer Trump is running the Republican Party, the more the people paying the bills will want to play ball with him.
And so you see Salem pushing out radio hosts and RedState writers who don't toe the line. money.cnn.com/2018/05/09/med…
Fox stops putting people like George Will, Erick Erickson, and Ralph Peters and doesn't renew their contracts.
Unless conservative outlets are funded by staunch never-Trump donors, this trend will likely continue going into the 2020 race. Will the people who pay the bills at The Weekly Standard and National Review fund harsh criticism of the president?
Trump won, he owns the Republican Party, and the right-wing media is going to be reshaped to reflect that.
