Gift articles previously were accessible just with the link. The latest article I attempted to read now requires me to first sign up
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The article in question https://wapo.st/4fp62oH
I am well aware of many work arounds. The point of this post was to show wapo has changed the way gift articles work, which previously didn’t require a workaround
I am fine paying for news. My main problem is these newspapers use manipulation to spread their news. They use cookies to limit the number of articles you can read. This allows people that can see the article thinking everyone else can. Also the entire article can be read by search engines. So when people are searching for certain info, the find the article and they are paywalled. It's a major waste of time. Just don't allow those articles to be searched then.
On top of all that the offers the give are introductory. They will have a signifcant jump afterwards. They will hound you to resubscribe and sell your information for as much as they legally (usually) can.