Actually no, newspapers always relied on ads and subscriptions, news shows were run on cable TV networks and were paid for by advertising which relied on views, which, "Back in the day" there were only three cable networks so there was minimal competition.

Now you have literally millions of shows a person can watch at any given time, content everywhere which means people's attentions are divided and MOST PEOPLE really do NOT like reading actual news stories. You want to know why news articles sound more clickbaity? Because that is the only thing people click on.

So once again, blame the viewers and the current set up, not the Guardian etc for trying to make some money so they can pay their reporters.