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Slurs and name-calling are usually an indication that someone is angry, not that they are trolling. By definition, trolls don't act out of anger, but out of a desire to get other people angry. If an article provokes a lot of angry responses, then there's a good chance that the article's author was actually trolling, i.e. deliberately intending for people to get angry, either to gain notoriety or to get more clicks. If people choose to write "provocatively" and "radically", they shouldn't complain if people get angry in response, and these days, instead of angry letters to the editor, they can just vent their anger in the comment section.

I never meant this as a blanket statement, so in that sense, I agree. There is no "one size fits all". But one way to get other people angry is to start throwing slurs out there, so that is a valid observation as well. It all depends on the context.

My high school instructor told us that when he was in high school electronics, the kids would toss a charged capacator at you if they saw you trying to sneak in after the bell rang. Either you try your best to catch it, or you let it drop and the professor turns around from the chalk board and notices you walking in.