I can't really disagree with any of that... well put. And I will say that Alan Sircom has garnered a certain respect from me by his very presence on this forum.
However.... The technical standards of the magazines have markedly dropped over the last 30 years or so. I very often see things written in the mags that are technically totally incorrect! Also I seen nostalgia type articles in which plenty of facts are wrong.... Pedantic? Maybe!
The biggest problem for me though is the symbiotic relationship between the industry and the mags that someone mentioned earlier. A large percentage of a magazines profits no doubt come from advertising revenue, ergo they are not likely to give a poor review to a product that has a two page glossy ad in the same magazine...
Nor are they likely (possible vested interest alert! start grinding your axes!!) to give a rave review to a product from a small one man band company such as mine
if that product is a rival for a similar product from one of their major advertisers (not that I've personally put that to the test before anyone asks)...
It would probably get something like "fairly competent at the price, may be just the ticket for the tastes of certain people but still has some way to go before this reviewer would put it on a par with the Cyrus xxxx or the Linn xxxx etc".
Of course if the small company can't afford to advertise in the magazine or to take the reviewer out to a swanky restaurant then being damned with feint praise (at best) is an even more likely outcome.... and yes I have seen this kind of thing in the industry.
Another issue is that even some of the most ridiculous snake oil products are unlikely to be slated, and possible purchasers warned off them, if the manufacturers are advertising in the mag... that would be bad for business...
I'm sure most readers of the comics have enough nous to work out all of the above for themselves and to read between the lines.... but not all!!