Yesterday, ESPN took out their Comments section. Not only can you not comment on events happening today anymore, you cannot view comments from the past, they've been erased. Before you condemn ESPN.....
Last month I noticed The Blaze took away their thumbs up and thumbs down option. Shortly after they took down their Comments section. They still want your money, they want you to subscribe, they just don't want to hear from you.
You haven't been able to comment on CNN articles in a long time.
Same thing at The Daily Beast.
I don't know if you could ever comment at The Drudge Report.
So it's not a left/right thing, it's a controlling the message thing. The business model has shifted. How so, you ask? I appreciate you asking.
In the past if you liked, or didn't like, an article, you could post your opinion at the end. Now corporate media entities literally do not give a fudge what you think. If you feel strongly, well, that's not their problem.
They outsourced commentary to social media giants Twitter and Facebook. If you're angry take your venom to third party platforms and they'll regulate your speech as they see fit. If you're ESPN, you trust Facebook to phase out improper speech. If you you're The Blaze, uh, you might be rolling the dice. Remember, entities like Facebook and Twitter don't post your article, they only provide links to it and you may react accordingly.
In the land of giant corporations, removing the comments section is yet another step in moving the media away from the people, by providing another layer between "you" and "them."
If ESPN was just a sports site, they wouldn't need to remove their Comments section. They take their cues from other news organizations. They didn't care if you commented on the quality of play of a 2-0 MLS game, they cared that their articles leaned one way and the public often bitched about it.
Or, as I plow through ESPN's recent Facebook feed, maybe, just maybe, they're going to try to focus on sports.
(We'll see.)