I've noticed that news articles that can spark fights between people on the internet usually get more replies than "normal" news articles. Also, changing words from a quotation or taking things out of context to make it seem as if someone said something negative about a company/developer/game/etc seems to make the news article get more hits and more responses/comments.
I guess it helps the sites get more hits, garner more attention and have more activity... it also may help them get new users.









