NPR is sick of spam and trolls and has switched to auditioning commenters before accepting their submissions. Only after establishing themselves over multiple comments will their comments begin appearing automatically when posted. Matthew Lasar in Ars Technica:
This new policy has been a while in coming. In October, NPR noted that the site had grown to 350,000 registered participants, and thus needed a little help moderating comments, particularly with trolls who come "to wreak havoc in discussions." Hence, the media organization brought in Canadian-based ICUC Moderation Services to assist.
Looks like they're simply overwhelmed by nasty anonymous and just-registered comments.
Public radio decides it's time to chase trolls away [Ars Technica}
