They are paying the writer money to write opinion. He has an opinion on a news event on a public figure, who just passed. No one will read the column a year, or a month, from now. (That's why they call it NEWs, not olds...corny joke.)
He was public, and gets the positives and negatives that go along with it, including after death.
Emotion is high with a beloved figure, and that is understandable, but I have zero problem with this piece.