Well that feel is because certain ones are.

They are managed by PACs. With nice little email lists providing members which stories to vote up/down and even to the point of who to report. More than a few are moderated by PAC assigned people because it isn't hard to work yourself into that position.

there are many good forums on reddit but those tend to be ones where advice on how to/what is types or those openly declared as non political; hence avoid the science reddit.

the long term threat is, does reddit bow to the wishes of investors. there are many many reddits which are guaranteed to offend people of any belief. while some of the openly bigot oriented reddits got shut down others merely skirt the rules. the fetish reddits are likely next on the list for policing.

overall it is an interesting place to be but treat it as any other public forum, always, and I mean always, assume your alias is nothing more than alias and your identity is known

In reality, I'd expect paid forums just signal to astroturfers that their readership is worth more to influence.

I would not think that having to spend a little money is an actual deterrent for those who want to game public opinion. So I wouldn't be surprised if it still happened.