In the J-school I attended we learned that editorial decisions weigh many factors, but newsworthiness tended to come first. Other things like reliability of sources, liability for libel, etc come next. We were taught to weigh things like "if we report this, will it cause harm to the community, and does the newsworthiness outweigh the potential form harm?" As an example, news outlets largely stopped reporting on suicides, because copycat suicides happen. They don't report the names of certain kinds victims, like minors.
At any legit news outlet there will be an editorial board that makes the publication decisions, made up of senior experienced journalists.
Most outlets that disable comments did so because of toxic behavior commenters directed at each other, not because the comments were second-guessing editorial decisions.
Oddly enough, Vanity Fair had a story on it. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/10/new-york-times-gaza-...
In the J-school I attended we learned that editorial decisions weigh many factors, but newsworthiness tended to come first. Other things like reliability of sources, liability for libel, etc come next. We were taught to weigh things like "if we report this, will it cause harm to the community, and does the newsworthiness outweigh the potential form harm?" As an example, news outlets largely stopped reporting on suicides, because copycat suicides happen. They don't report the names of certain kinds victims, like minors.
At any legit news outlet there will be an editorial board that makes the publication decisions, made up of senior experienced journalists.
Most outlets that disable comments did so because of toxic behavior commenters directed at each other, not because the comments were second-guessing editorial decisions.