NYT: G.M. Ads Return to Los Angeles Times

[DeepModem Mom]

G.M. Ads Return to a Newspaper
By DANNY HAKIM
Published: August 3, 2005


DETROIT, Aug 2 - An advertisement for the Pontiac Solstice in the Monday edition of The Los Angeles Times was more than just another car ad. It also represented the return of General Motors to the newspaper after more than three months of refusing to advertise in its pages.

G.M.'s absence shortly followed a column by the Pulitzer Prize winning car critic Dan Neil in April, in which he called for the dismissal of G.M.'s chairman and chief executive, Rick Wagoner. "When ball clubs have losing records, players and coaches and managers get their walking papers," Mr. Neil wrote. "At G.M., it's time to sweep the dugout." In a statement, Brian Akre, a company spokesman, said: "G.M. and The Los Angeles Times have had productive discussions regarding our complaints about the newspaper's coverage of G.M. While we have respectfully agreed to disagree on some of the issues, we sincerely believe The Times has a better understanding of our concerns and we appreciate its ongoing willingness to listen."

In an interview, Mr. Akre added that "our objections didn't revolve around any one story or reporter."

Martha Goldstein, a spokeswoman for the newspaper, said: "We had productive conversations with G.M. While we didn't see a need to run a correction, we did listen to their concerns."...


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/03/business/media/03boycott.html?ei=5070&en=9be444be90be6713&ex=1123732800&adxnnl=1&emc=eta1&adxnnlx=1123088480-yUZgmBp1GOIIOuOpG8lSrA

[krkaufman]

1. Time will tell whether the LATimes knuckled-under. n/t

[Kagemusha]

2. It sounds like GM is grudgingly crawling back, actually.

But yeah, we'll see.