I posit that it is, in part, because of Reddit's self-selected role as "the front page of the internet". Journalists and bloggers have a vested interest in what happens to reddit, and the drama surrounding third-party apps, as it likely drives a not-insignificant portion of their own traffic. I've seen articles from all sides of the political spectrum lambasting Huffman's fuck-ups, as (on the negative side) the planned changes likely reduce the amount of click-throughs they might expect to their content, and/or (on the positive side) the drama drives click-throughs to their articles from impassioned redditors, would-be social media developers, and anyone with an interest in the history/sociology/economy of the social web.