Where do you find newspaper dispensers?

Not all newspaper dispensers are coin-operated. There are many dispensers that contain free publications. These might be local alternative papers, real estate listings, used auto listings, etc. The ones in TO actually look like they're the type with free papers as there is no coin mechanism that can be seen.

Coin-operated dispensers may contain out-of-town newspapers that aren't carried by shops in the area.

In towns and larger cities dispensers could be anywhere. Typically places that have high amount of foot traffic. At bus stops, in front of businesses (restaurants are a common place), etc. It wouldn't be uncommon to find one at a strip mall.

It doesn't really matter that a nearby shop might sell the same paper. That shop likely isn't open 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Some people might get a paper at 6am before a store is open, for example. And, as pointed out above, the paper makes more profit by selling directly to the customer instead of going through a middle man (i.e. a store).

May I ask where you live in which they don't have any newspaper dispensers?

stinkbugger wrote:

May I ask where you live in which they don't have any newspaper dispensers?

I live in Sydney, Australia.
Newspapers here are sold in shops (newsagents, corner stores, service stations , some supermarkets, kiosks on railway stations, news stalls on city street corners) or else home delivered. I'm pretty sure they don't have newspaper dispensers in other Australian cities or towns either.
Free newspapers are either home delivered (local newspaper - you get it whether you want it or not) or given away in shops (eg gig guide/music newspapers are often given away in cafes and record stores).
Thirty years ago, there used to be paper sellers who would sell papers from a two wheeled trolley. They would sometimes work on the median strip on busy roads, selling to commuters stopped in traffic, but were more often kids who would wheel the trolley around residential neighbourhoods, blowing a whistle to attract sales. The kids usually only worked weekend mornings, but in some areas they did it on weekday afternoons, too. I can't remember when this practice stopped.

They're fast becoming extinct where I live. Nowadays very few people read papers; they either get news from TV, the radio or the Internet.