If you are interested in news and issues in higher education, you would most likely read The Chronicle of Higher Education. If you try this link, you will find that full online access requires a subscription.
Inside Higher Ed – a new and free online source – appears to be attempting to take advantage of the “fee issue” to launch a competing service. I would guess the idea is support this alternative through ads.
The web works in mysterious ways. Maybe not – it is either fee based or ad based.