The legacy media has an emotional connection to their old business, because it is the source of their power and privilege. If they kill the paper edition they would be a website and they don't invite writers from web sites to dinners at the White House or the best Manhattan parties. They don't give Pulitzers to web sites. They don't make movies about courageous whistle blowing web masters. Columbia doesn't do lectures for people who run web sites.

Perhaps most importantly, legacy media knows it is superior to websites, and doesn't feel the need to treat you as a professional colleague or peer publication if you aren't on dead tree. They'll happily just lift your stuff or ignore it. Want to get a job with them? Pfft, you ran a website? Darling, this is the New York Times. We hire journalists here.