This kind of situation has two bad effects, first being that the "pet" journalists will have a hard time criticizing Apple in the future, for the fear of losing

This kind of situation has two bad effects, first being that the "pet" journalists will have a hard time criticizing Apple in the future, for the fear of losing exclusive access, and the second being that impartial journalists would want to court Apple with positive articles, in the hope of getting the exclusive access.