Are people actually forgetting to read the articles but totally want to, or do they not really care as much and generally get too much "omg you need to read this" links? Depending on who sent me a link, I'd tell them honestly that I don't care about their pet issue/celebrities/tomorrow's end of the world/superhero movies/whatever or I'd say "oh I totally forgot to read that piece about that thing now that you mention it".

If you'll offer an extra service for me that gives me a very short summary in case I get asked, two non-committal but smart sounding points and a good way to change the topic to something else ... that might be something!