This is understood. That's why the featured author felt a need for the minority opinion to be expressed. There's a general point that needs support, perhaps. Y

This is understood. That's why the featured author felt a need for the minority opinion to be expressed. There's a general point that needs support, perhaps. Your criticizm in the end is ad-hominem. As far as the body of the critique is directed at the content instead, without adressing it explicitly, then perhaps because the TFA made an ad-hominem via proxy, without resorting to the meta-level to that you have taken it. The argument rests on the fact that e.g. a news-paper article would barely invite not just readers' letters but whole discussions. It's rather quaint and not all that hyper. Thus it is kind of ironic and almost self-defeating for the article to be published online (online first I guess). As I have said, the trend is obvious and needs no defense.