Access journalism has damaged reputation of many professional critics. When a new product is launched, e.g. a video game, people want reviews on launch date, they aren't willing to wait. The only way to have a review out on a launch date is to get a pre-release access from the publisher. But the way to get pre-release access from the publisher is to have a good relationship with the publisher and you won't have a good relationship with the publisher if you are going to give negative reviews (even when it's well deserved).

"IGN 7/10" became a meme in the gaming community for meaning "we think the game has some serious flaws but we don't want to appear too negative". People pick up on this stuff, if bad products are 7/10, then reviews get meaningless and people seek more niche critics who are more honest and are not afraid to rate the latest release 2/10 if it deserves it.