azed,

     I'd love to believe billionaire oligarch newspaper publishers are honourable and loving men so caring about the tender sensibilities of women (lol), it pains them to shut down the most 
democratic venue for political and economic criticism ever created in 5000 years of civilization.
    But when truth and sanity kick in one must accept the reality that these 1% fellows just don't like being criticized, especially in a public democratic forum like an online newspaper.