Hello! Author of the library here. Just want to point out that I am a journalist and very active in the data journalism community. (6+ years) Both the sites you name-check have journalists who do production online graphics that don't go through the traditional Illustrator workflow and news organizations are increasingly discarding that antiquated pattern. (I've made a hundred graphics for NPR and I don't even have a copy of Illustrator installed.)
To your second point, that's fine. The most common feedback I've gotten is "I don't see what purpose this serves that X doesn't already fulfill!" Well okay then, you don't gotta use it. But given the fact I've done this job for years, working with the very folks who it's targeted at, I think it's probably safe to assume I've got some reasons. (Which you will find enumerated in the blog post and documentation.)
To your second point, that's fine. The most common feedback I've gotten is "I don't see what purpose this serves that X doesn't already fulfill!" Well okay then, you don't gotta use it. But given the fact I've done this job for years, working with the very folks who it's targeted at, I think it's probably safe to assume I've got some reasons. (Which you will find enumerated in the blog post and documentation.)