Looking at the questions, they seem not very niche to me:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/
Just that typical questions about popular technologies.
Isn't Dang being paid to moderate HN?
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/
Just that typical questions about popular technologies.
Isn't Dang being paid to moderate HN?
I would assume so, yes, but the point still stands: he needs to moderate it or people won't find value in it, thus he'll be out of a position.
What's the value in Wikipedia? The curated knowledge. You only have to go on the average Talk tab for an article on Wikipedia to realize how hard-won most content is, and no, the best outcome doesn't always happen, and plenty of genuine nonsense still makes its way into articles and stays there for years on end.