Give some new links a chance
news.ycombinator.com
news.ycombinator.com
I like the links on the new page and check out the new section from time to time, but in the end, I'm here for the discussion, seeing what other people think, and learning from the comments, so for me the new page isn't good as there is basically no comments there, no matter how great the links are on the new page.
often the author would prefer this discussion to be in THEIR comment section for once
To go directly to the link, it would have to be really compelling.
It’s tedious work. But it probably appeals to a certain personality type. You basically read each new post and mark your opinion of it.
It had to be formalized for exactly the reason you point out here: if it was left to random chance, the most interesting stories would (and did) fall through unnoticed. There’s a lot of interesting work that goes on behind the scenes to counteract such problems.
If you search Dan’s comments for "software sandwich" you’ll find https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10742610. I’m not sure if there are any other comments mentioning the system, or what became of it.
Suffice to say, it’s not possible to have an interesting front page every day unless there are reviewers whose job is to go looking for interesting stories. It’s too much of a schlep for anyone to want to do it otherwise.
I've recommended items to that myself (from other people), via email to mods. Those are usually accepted, though not always.
If you’re interested, I encourage you to email and ask if you can join. They’ve probably long filled the team that does it, but it’s always worth asking if you want to do some yeoman work. But one tip: it’s work, not fun, so if you do pursue it, be sure to go into it with that mindset.
To be honest, I doubt they need any help nowadays. The system has been working well for nearly a decade. But you never know till you try.