If you consider mass media to be important, by which I mean the kind of news, analysis and content that is written for a large, generalist, audience then, online, access to it must be as unencumbered as possible.
People must be able to share it, quote from it, comment on it and – hang on to your hats – even add to it. If you believe that’s important then that’s what you must do. And if you believe that’s important then you will have to figure out a way to make it pay.
Putting your content behind a paywall is, online, a retreat from mass media. It’s an abdication.
The Times is now a niche publication though I’m not sure who it’s for, which is another problem entirely.
A niche publication serves a niche audience. A legal periodical, for example, is for lawyers. The Times appears to be a niche publication for “Times readers”, which is at best vague and at worst tautological.