He need not. The control need not be explicit, it might be as simple as admin isn't so hot about A's application for a promotion over B's because of that critic

He need not. The control need not be explicit, it might be as simple as admin isn't so hot about A's application for a promotion over B's because of that critical article, they may not realize it but it can be there. And, from B's perspective, s/he knows that A's critical article is a strike against them, hence why they refrained from writing it. Not trying to draw a false equivalency, I'd say the ordering in terms of worseness is explicit censure >> reporters anticipate implicit bias == admin shows implicit bias > full journalistic freedom