GM Pulls Ads From LA Times

Expressing strong objections to the editorial coverage, General Motors decided to stop advertising in the Los Angeles Times. GM did not cite specific concerns, rather just objections to "factual errors and misrepresentations in The Times editorial coverage." However, an anonymous source said that GM found auto critic Dan Neil's recent review particularly offensive. Apparently, Neil suffers from environmentalitis and his writing reflects that he is upset that GM builds SUVs and not enough fuel-efficient vehicles.

It's fairly clear that the LATimes and Dan Neil promote a political agenda which is not exactly compatible with the business goals of GM to sell the maximum possible number of cars to the maximum number of customers. I think that the LATimes may be shooting itself in the foot. Advertising revenue is the lifeblood of the newspaper business and it's foolish to dam up a stream of cash for the sake of activism for a controversial political issue. The loss of the General Motors account has to hurt.