TOS & DS9 managed to strike a balance between extremes. Why is it so hard for modern writers to do the same?
Because they are not fans of Trek. They do not understand why people would like DS9 because they never watched it. All they know is shows like The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, or Game of Thrones are popular (apparently, though not liked by me), but they don’t understand why that doesn’t translate correctly to the Star Trek universe.
I also watched the new BSG from start to finish, and I didn’t like really it at all. I kept waiting for “Riker to grow a beard” but it never happened. If anything, my suspension of disbelief broke more and more concerning things like how what’s-his-name could be roaming the ship talking to someone who wasn’t there without raising concern; or how he built an Enemy Spy Detector and no one checked his work to ensure his reported results were legit.