The don't make anywhere near enough money - that's the problem.
All the major news outlets online are funding that via some source than online ads. Paper sales, licence fees, debt - pick one.
I worked for the radio station chain now owned by Newscorp (Talksport etc - was the Northern Irish ITV...
What's free is either under threat (due to being non-profitable) or nonsense, generally.
No news setup of the type any paper has can support itself on online advertising as it stands. You would be left with licence fee subsidised broadcasters and cheap as possible opinion-driven "news" sources...
Have two subs and two dead-tree deliveries still - one is a magazine with no digital version and the other is cheaper delivered still!
Guardian & Irish Times (different paper to the Times completely, Times is Times Ireland here) digitally; Sunday Business Post (centre-left leaning...