Assuming you have the money why is using these services a bad financial decision? Isn’t a good idea to postpone payments in an inflationary economy when there’s no interest?
This may not apply to non-profit oriented media, and I also believe that in larger outfits you can find individuals that have a genuine goal of informing people but their views happen to be divorced from the true goals of the organisation. However even if they aren't looking for profits they will still have to compete for eyeballs, which might skew their behaviour. It's hard to find media that doesn't resort to clickbait.
Good luck with Ulysses.
I tried several times but I always find myself with no idea of what I just read after reading a few pages.
Might try again one day.
I read Brothers Karamazov some years ago and I find impressive how I still think about it regularly.