Here's how I read it:
It's entirely possible that Lauren Wainwright is simply naive and doesn't understand professional standards, and the concept of avoiding even the PERCEPTION of a conflict of interest. Given the state of the game journalism industry, this is actually entirely understandable.
If she was just being honestly enthusiastic, then yes, it's pretty fucking insulting to be accused of accepting a bribe, even in such a roundabout "I don't think she REALLY is, but but but" kind of way. It's perfectly reasonable to be pissed off about somebody making those insinuations against you.
I'm not sure how the story would have played out in America. I like to think she would have simply written a response saying she was insulted and Florence was wrong, instead of complaining to management.
Failing that, I like to think that an American outlet would have shown some backbone and told her publisher where to stick it if they claimed those few sentences actually qualified as defamation. Because in America, I sure as hell don't think that they would.
I see British libel law as the real problem here. I must admit I don't understand Britain's approach to free speech, and I think it builds entirely too much "right not to have your feelings hurt" into the law. What happened here? Perfectly normal for the UK, and generally accepted as the normal thing to do there. (I've never quite figured out how their tabloids manage to get away with just straight-up making shit up when their libel laws are so strict -- anybody from there/living there know how that works?)
Anyway. Completely independent of British law and culture, Ms. Wainwright has just walked right into a lesson in Internet culture and the law of cause-and-effect. One specific Effect in particular.
