The briefest investigation of the comments sections of local news sites explains what they're not only afraid of, but perfectly rationally expecting amd shrewdly avoiding.

I don't follow much local news this days, can you share an example?

I grew up reading the NYTimes online and thought that the discussion section offered great debate. I think it might have become a case of it is too expensive to moderate? Do people just post ads and spam? Because in my mind, active discussion is always good