Imagine paying $4 a month for CNN. There are a lot of things not worth it in the world, and there's a lot of subjectivity even then, but this is one of the few things I think the entire planet can agree on. This ain't worth it.
Just for the sake of information, those are there for visually impaired people who have browsers that read text aloud to them since they may not be able to see their screen at all. All informational websites should have them and many do not. I'm honestly surprised CNN does. Not surprised about NPR.
I won't even follow links to them right now while they're free.
The last thing that I used CNN for was the Fukushima tidal wave/flood because they had live video before other people. But honestly their journalistic integrity is marginal.
Let's get real, there's no unique news service out there. As soon as any credible news hits any network it is automatically copied reworded and redistributed on every other service.
Today's CNN is so useless, I'm doubting people will even try to pirate the content. After a year the stats on 12ft.io will still be single digits of use, and thats only because they're in the habit of reaching good new sources someone didn't realize they were trying to get over a CNN paywall.
They're factual but sensationalist. They don't lie like Fox News, but they use the same tactic of making stuff sound like a big deal so people keep watching.