These stories get a lot of hate and rolled eyes from FlyerTalk, where the average user knows a thing or two about airlines, but it's important to remember the lay person doesn't understand much about overbooking (many don't know it occurs at all). These stories, albeit fluff at best, are things that lay people would want to know. Sort of like a PSA campaign.
I don't think they deserve as much hate as they get on FT. Popular press generally does a poor job of explaining most fields at any meaningful level (IT and hackers, scientific studies and results, contrasting economic theories, etc). I think the general public doesn't care about the economic necessity of overbooking as much as they care about travel being disrupted through no fault of their own.