We can assume these may also be populated by automatically generated comments to suggest support or rejection of the content. Sometimes this leads me into [rabbit-hole] investigations through a user's post history if I am significantly moved by their angle(s).
I needn't read anything more than the title, as the meat content would likely just be an assimilation of empirical evidence and/or gossip. I'm not even going to bother turning off ad blocker or using archive.is with this one - in aggregate I just see it as yet another "distrust [insert internet company] with your data" offensive (defensive?) campaign.
I'm also not really sure what agenda the "modern, salaried digital author" is supposed to be succumbing to. Clickbait? If they're salaried then they aren't paid per click. Again, the journalist is a known employee of a known organisation. To think of anonymous commenters as more reliable feels a little baffling to me.
Everyone has an agenda, and everyone taking a voluntary action does so specifically in pursuit of an agenda.
The “impartial observer” is a sometimes-useful analytical fiction, not a thing that exists in the real world.