If you install the uMatrix extension in Chrome, when you click on the uMatrix icon and with the url set to https://www.washingtonpost.com, you get a little grid as shown in the screenshot. If you click on the bottom part of each cell in the grid, it will turn dark red. Basically, you block WaPo from setting any cookies or running any scripts and the read counter breaks. Once you've configured the grid correctly, you click the lock icon so it saves the config.

The way I've done it does break audio and video playback while on WaPo, but that's not something I've ever been particularly interested in. There's probably a way to keep audio and video playback with more granular tweaking.