A blog like SFJ's at the New Yorker would certainly attract a ton of toadies who would defend whatever the guy wrote -- he's pretty much gotten a free pass since he took over the position from the astoundingly bad Nick Hornby -- but I think that it's not only fair to allow comments, no matter how grotesque [tho this is why mods are still needed], esp. when you consider that all these old media outlets are dipping their toes into the internet and not capitalizing on the controversies they create.
At the end of the day, in the 'eyes' of the internet, we're all just 'unique visitors' anyway.
Cheers, J T.