> 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/