But why? It’s always been that way. Before Twitter, it was private radio stations, private TV stations or private newspapers.
In the end it’s still private companies (with the exception of public broadcasters or websites).
You were able to access those news for free. Without any account. Once you had a radio or a tv, it was free and accessible for everyone.
Not the same for Facebook or Twitter. Even if technically free, you can be banned, or have your account deactivated because you didn’t give away your phone number as “security measure”.
It's not obtuse, there are a ton of similarities.
Also is for example BBC private company?
You can listen to TV and radio stations for free without an account or subscription and they can't cancel you (unlike FB/Twitter/etc).
Newspapers tecnically you had to buy, but reading the headlines at the newstand was free and you could always go to the library of coffee shop to read the whole thing for free.