It has been obvious for a long time that 'journalism' isn't trustworthy or worth crap due to conflicts of interests, corruption, or just plain incompetence.
pretty much this
Once upon a time, journalism was about impartially getting the unbiased facts of a story out to their readers/listeners/watchers, depending on the medium, and letting the "end user" make their own conclusions. Or, at least that's the perception. It was in a time when the world didn't know what kind of toe fungus cream someone bought 30 seconds after they bought it (yes, there are down sides to living in this kind of instant gratification, social world). So, who knows what the actual reality was back then.
But, do you actually know of a news site that does that anymore? Most are either so far right or left wing, they wouldn't know what unbiased meant if you gave them a dictionary. Most have poorly disguised op/ed pieces masquerading as actual news stories, or worse yet, public relations releases, from the government, big business, or special interest groups, masquerading as news stories. Most likely, even if you have a news site you think is out there without some type of axe to grind, you're probably just wrong.
And, then we have all these specialized news sites, for particular types of products. Gaming news sites. Entertainment news sites. Hobbies news sites. Exercise news sites. Knitting news sites. Heck, if you can think of something, there is probably a news site for it.
How did they start? Well, someone had a keyboard, and an internet connection. That's pretty much it. That's all it takes to start your own news site. Go ahead, start your own blog. You are now a gaming journalist. You can have as much, or as little, integrity as you want, provided you don't get caught. And, even if you do get caught, the public has around 30 seconds in their long term memory, so if you ride it out, people will already have forgotten by the time that you've managed to warm up last nights left overs in the microwave.
Am I condoning anything that was done, or might have been done, in this little fiasco? Certainly not. Does it surprise me? Obviously not, sadly :\