Maybe it's just me, but if I need to create an account on your online newspaper to read a 'free gift article', I firmly believe said 'free gift article' isn't actually 'free'.
You see 'Free' can mean 'without payment' and it can mean 'unencumbered' and I would argue this 'free gift article' fails both of those meanings: The case for the latter assertion seems obvious, but for the former let me point out your personal information has value – otherwise they wouldn't care.