9to5Mac:

Beginning later this week, Verizon and Apple are partnering on a new promotion for Apple News+. Any iPad activated through Verizon will qualify for a free six-month subscription to Apple News+. The deal arrives as Apple is trying to juice interest in the News+ service, which includes access to a handful of newspapers and ~300 magazines for $9.99 per month.

This approach to onboarding new customers, to give them a taste of your service, seems smart to me. Free trials for Apple Arcade, Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple News+ give folks the chance to develop some new habits, to develop a fondness for/dependence on a particular service.

I just don’t see the value proposition in the existing version of Apple News+. Could there be an incarnation where Apple News+ catches on, or at least works for me? Sure. Start by making it a lot more customizable for me. Make it easier for me to create a front page that has news I really care about, and zero fluff.