I absolutely agree it's not proof. However, I'd bet it's not statistically independent either. If you assume that submitters to Hacker News often put effort in

I absolutely agree it's not proof. However, I'd bet it's not statistically independent either. If you assume that submitters to Hacker News often put effort into selecting well-behaved web sites, and if you assume that legitimate news stories are carried by a wide variety of outlets, then it skews the odds in favor of the story not being legitimate.