there are lots of news posts, however, people usually only post if they have strong feelings. Most news stories elicit one of these reactions: “How nice” “how sad” “interesting!” ,etc. MOST of which do not inspire further discussion. However, as in the Mumbai situation last week, there were many, many posts of info and feelings.
But you’re right that there’s less overall, since people need/want a place to vent/argue/emphasise. They used to use news items as springboards; now they start a new thread!