Most of the popular subreddit's comment sections have top rated comments being something totally predictable and sarcastic.
Right now the top post on r/news is [1]
Contrasted to the equivalent story on hackernews: [2]
There isn't anything remotely thought provoking in the top rated comments on reddit as there is on hackernews.
It seems to me this isn't due to censorship or corporate influence, but purely due to the fact that the reddit post has 100x more upvotes (and therefore more viewership) than the hackernews equivalent.
In the pockets of reddit that have a small but active community, I think it's easier to argue that the original essence and charm of reddit is still very much alive.
I'm skeptical that even without all the corrupting factors mentioned in this article, that reddit would ever be a place for the masses to engage healthy discourse and speech
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/news/comments/vjpfbh/supreme_court_...