MCL1981: Yes, the reason these comment sections exist is to drive Web hits, especially when they make it easy to comment anonymously. It’s distasteful, and I guarantee no reporter there likes it. That’s a business decision, not an editorial one.
I say ignoring them is an easy to way simply ignore the problem of bad media coverage of cycling, though. Those sections will be there whether or not you comment. It’s the same as saying you don’t like a candidate for office, so you won’t vote. Someone still gets elected, and you don’t get a say. In this case, they still cover the news, but they don’t have your insight, so it continues without nuance.
Posting a thoughtful comment on a thread like like sticks out to a reporter and has the chance to affect how they view future stories. Letting it devolve into a rabid post fest featuring only the more base views of society guarantees the coverage stays the same and all the people who hear the story get the same anti-bike schlock because no one with a brain spoke up.
Little chance of success is better than no chance at all in my opinion.
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