“So "boilerplate" became slang for vapid syndicated articles.”
Boilerplate was the rolled iron used for steam boilers. Then the linotype let newspapers ship pre-cast syndicated columns, written to be as bland as possible so any paper would run them. Lawyers grabbed the word next. The first known use of “boilerplate code” is a 1981 COBOL report, which is exactly where you’d expect to find it.