Taken to another level, why is HN showing articles from news sites at all, when it's own guidelines say if media would cover it, it's probably off topic?
Actually, the guidelines say: "If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-topic". And also: "anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity" is OK.[1]
Long-form articles on news sites usually have much more intellectual content than TV news.
Even if it's not exactly where I'd set the dial, it's probably a rough average of the community, and the consolation prize is that controversial stories rapidly bury themselves.