Why so many comparisons?

Can someone explain to me what spurs all the ridiculous comparison tests in the major automotive magazines? At least the latest from Car & Driver pits a new Corvette against the new Porsche 911. Yes they're about $20,000 apart in price but as explained early on what else can compete with the new Corvette in the power and performance arena? The 911 is actually slower than the Vette with Z51 setup and the Vette clearly is the victor. Because of the results this seems like a viable comparison, then when you read on you find the two cars have matched up in the C&D pages five other times. Not as novel an idea as I thought. Do readers get anything out of comparisons? It seems like space filler to me. When they write the regular Corvette feature they should just say "faster than a Porsche 911," not create some lame excuse so the editors can hit the track with a brand new Corvette and Pors…wait a second. I get it now.