> I guess it must have been "journalists" who didn't want to put in any time playing the game.

I'm not really sure what you mean. I'm not even sure what the main article meant, because I could only find four mainstream reviews covering the 1.0 release. The first one by RockPaperShotgun[0] is essentially glowing and mentions how they've closed so many bugs. The second one by Game Enthusiast which seems pretty happy about it, the only reference to the word "bug" in the review is:

    Let’s just say, Factorio has always been a diamond in 
    the rough. Or more like just a lump of promising coal. 
    And after 8.5 years, 18,855 bug reports, 5,603 mods, 
    and probably thousands of man hours, we can finally 
    conclude that Factorio has become a spectacular 
    diamond. Albeit, a diamond for gamers with a highly 
    specific acquired taste.
    - GameEnthusiast review[1]

The only other reviews I could find were both by PCgamer, and only one mentioned the number of bugs left, but was overall positive. Here is the reference to bugs, which is almost entirely factual, and seems mostly-positive about it aside from a single line:

    The rush to get it out a month early does mean that the 
    1.0 build is still a bit on the buggy side. According to 
    Wube, there are around 150 reported bugs and 80 internal 
    tasks that still need to be tackled, but they're 
    apparently smaller issues rather than critical ones. You 
    can see the known issues and current bug reports on the 
    official forum. They'll hopefully be dealt with in the 1.1 
    update, which will focus on fixes and "filling the most 
    obvious gaps" rather than adding new stuff. 
    
    Factorio was pretty much feature-complete already—though 
    Wube was also planning a campaign and some UI improvements 
    that have been cut [...]
    - PCgamer review [2]

The fourth review is particularly glowing. When talking about bugs they say:

    Factorio has been in early access for four years, so 
    most of its creases have been ironed out. There are some
    minor flaws. Visually it isn't the most exciting game, 
    with an odd penchant for beige and brown. The top-down 
    perspective can also obscure potential spanners in your 
    works, like a missing piece of conveyor belt or an 
    inserter facing the wrong way.
    - PCgamer review[3]

they give a 91/100, and have this particularly glowing passage at the start:

    Let's skip the preamble, shall we? Factorio is 
    brilliant. If you're remotely interested in games about 
    management, construction, and above all production 
    chains, then hop aboard the nearest conveyor belt and 
    grab yourself a copy of Factorio this instant. Then 
    pick up another copy for the most important person in 
    your life, because they won't be seeing you for a 
    while, and at least this way they'll understand why.
    - PCgamer review[3]

I'm honestly not sure why one line in a mostly-positive-but-factual review that is mostly not subjective, results in in the need to disparage the entire journalistic profession? Could you explain why? I'm extremely curious, thanks.

[0 (RPS review)]: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/the-fantastic-factorio-has-...

[1 (GameEnthusiast)]: https://game-enthusiast.com/2020/08/18/factorio-review/

[2 (PCgamer)]: https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/factorio-finally-leaves-early-acc...

[3 (PCgamer)]: https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/factorio-review/