Yes - it's an official dictate - paper versions of newspapers are no longer a brand standard. The hotel would presumably lose the bulk discount thus limiting any desire to keep purchasing them.

I think it's a mixed bag - while the physical paper is nice to have, there is a cost to purchase, and a cost to dispose of. (Imagine 1000 papers per day in a dumpster....). Worse, many/most of them go unused.

Fake news commentary aside, USA Today (and WSJ) are both politically polarizing (particularly USA Today). The best use (for me) is to line my cat's litter box....the furries don't care much about the content.