News stories are increasingly becoming the point of departure for discussion, rather than the final word on the subject, thanks to the “comments” feature on many news media sites. Comments are both a boon for and the bane of media … the former because they generate activity on the media’s sites and encourage visitors to stay longer (important for measurement) … the latter because comments can be rude, mean … and as the San Francisco Chronicle reports … not even always made by people who live anywhere near the region a particular media outlet covers.