I think the reason is, that despite all the self-criticism of the debate here on FR, we are truly concerned with the essentials of the Catholic faith. The debate really gets down to the nitty-gritty. For those, however, who are more tied up in the political culture, then the fall of someone like Deal Hudson is a major, major event. It's ironic that on a political website like FR, the Catholics would be less politically inclined and more concerned with doctrines rather than personalities.
Well, when a private sin is made public and the figure it concerns is a public persona, these things happen, they should happen - although in this case I think NCR should have refrained since the sin seems to have been repented and repaid (losing his career as a professor plus the $$ settlement). I'm sure NCReporter published what they did for a political reason. I am assuming this is a one-time failing on Hudson's part until and if the facts are known.
One more reason to be glad we are not public figures whose past repented sins are fair game to some with axes to grind.
Amy Welborn's blogspot has a lot of ongoing back and forth on this - some attended the event and dispute the newspaper account, some are liberals and some are traditionalists... spans the spectrum of us.