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This, but actually true. I'm always grateful when a site announces upfront they can't be bothered to respect my privacy, so I don't accidentally browse their content.

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Not saying you're wrong, but there is another possible reason. I often see this kind of thing on very local news websites in the USA.

I think it's possible that small-town newspapers simply doesn't believe their local news has any readership in the EU/EEA, but that there is some small chance they could be maliciously targeted for non-compliance with a faraway law.

Not even small chance. Any mention of a person's name where that name might be the same as that of a European person and suddenly they're getting nonsense GPDR requests. It totally makes sense to wall off Europe.

Any proof of this being a problem for small American news sites?

If it wasn't a problem, they wouldn't be doing this.

They would, if they know they're breaking GDPR rules about selling the personal data of visitors.

Sounds like a GDPR problem yes.

Many perfectly respect your privacy but don't want to be bothered reading 100 pages vague legal document from the EU.

I think it’s more likely that they don’t care what happens with your data. They simply install that JS payload and check the revenue at the end of the month.

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