The tribalism around brand loyalty infesting even people's heuristics around commenting on news they don't even bother reading is something else.
Startup idea for anyone out there: a news commenting site like Reddit or HN with a built in browser that doesn't let you comment until you've spent at least half the expected amount of time to read the article with the article open.
I'd happily give that site my attention, ad dollars, and data instead.
They're a dead outlet, unless they restructure their management to preserve journalistic integrity. That's expensive and they seem more interested in cashing out their reputation.