After a number of poor editorial decisions, including running North Korean propaganda as a front-page news article last month, the Los Angeles Times not only has lost subscribers but now a major advertiser has cancelled its account at the paper. General Motors announced today that it will no longer buy advertising in Los Angeles' only major broadsheet due to the editorial incompetence shown by the newspaper:

General Motors Corp. has pulled its advertising from the Los Angeles Times over what it called factual errors and misrepresentations in the newspaper, a spokesman for the automaker said.

GM did not say how much it spent on advertising in the Times, one of the largest U.S. newspapers, or how long the ban would continue.

"General Motors decided this week to cease advertising in the Los Angeles Times based on strongly voiced objections from our dealers in California about factual errors and misrepresentations in the Times' editorial coverage," said GM spokesman Brian Akre on Thursday.

The final straw appears to have been a column specifically regarding General Motors and its marketing strategy about its brand management. Dan Neil called for the GM board to get rid of Rick Wagoner, the chairman and CEO. Needless to say, that didn't make Wagoner a fan of the LAT, but it's doubtful that a single column -- by Dan Neil, of all people -- would cause GM to stop advertising in the only newspaper available throughout the entirety of the greater Los Angeles area. Instead, it seems as though Neil's column probably underscored the complaints that GM had received from its customers regarding the poor performance of the Los Angeles Times. (For a much better look at the track record of the LAT, make sure to visit Patterico's Pontifications.)

For those who are tempted to scold General Motors for a lack of support for a free press, let's remember that GM isn't censoring the LAT at all. They have no power to do so, in any real sense. Censorship comes from the government at the threat of arrest. What GM has done in this case is to make a rational decision that its advertising dollars supported a media outlet that performed poorly and reflected badly on GM. GM will either save the money or put it into more effective advertising, and the LAT is still free to print whatever it likes. What the Tribune Co. (owners of the LAT) should understand from this development is that its revenue stream will be endangered by the poor performance of its staff -- just like any company in a free-market system.

John Carroll and the Tribune Co. just learned a valuable lesson in free-market economics. They can either improve their product, or continue to rely on their near-monopoly position in Los Angeles to slowly run the newspaper into the ground.

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry is

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Welcome To The Free Market:

» GM Has Finally Had Enough of the LA Times from The Dread Pundit Bluto
...if they had chosen to continue spending money on a paper whose reviewer obviously hated them, then the GM management would deserve to be cashiered. [Read More]

Tracked on April 8, 2005 12:40 PM

» Howard Stern, Gun-Slinging Robots on Patrol, Blogging Anonymously, and a Curveball from Blogs of War
The Los Angeles Times is losing major advertisers and credibility. Captain Ed has the details. [Read More]

Tracked on April 8, 2005 1:27 PM

» The Rick strikes back from dustbury.com
Captain Ed comments on General Motors' decision to stop advertising in the Los Angeles Times: The final straw appears to have been a column specifically regarding General Motors and its... [Read More]

Tracked on April 8, 2005 3:45 PM

» The Los Angeles Times' Dan Neil is Right from Tapscott's Copy Desk
But Neil is exactly right about GM's problem - it is still trying to function as the company established by Alfred Sloan, with a division for every taste and pocketbook. [Read More]

Tracked on April 8, 2005 4:21 PM

» GM Grows A Spine, If Only Temporarily from Ed Driscoll.com
As I've written before, my father spent decades as a partner in a large suburban Chervolet dealership, and while I haven't owned a GM automobile in about 15 years, I still feel a certain sense of affiliation with the company.... [Read More]

Tracked on April 8, 2005 7:07 PM

» The Empire Strikes Back - GM Pulls Ads From LA Times from OKIE on the LAM - In LA
[Update: 4:50pm & 5:53pm -- Welcome Hugh Hewitt visitors!] Hugh Hewitt has just talked about this story with California state Senator John Campbell and brought up the figure that GM spent $21 million dollars in LA Times advertising last year, so now w... [Read More]

Tracked on April 8, 2005 8:32 PM

» GM Didn't Pull Ads Over LA Times Content from Riehl World View
Just as I applauded Captain's Quarters for their AdScam coverage here, as a businessman having worked for two of the world's largest corporations, I'd politely suggest they are missing the real story here.After a number of poor editorial decisions, inc... [Read More]

Tracked on April 8, 2005 9:10 PM

» GM Pulls Ads From LA Times Over "factual errors and misrepresentations" In The Paper from Diggers Realm
I guess when you're incompetent and start to lose credibility people don't want to be associated with you. Money/CNN General Motors Corp. has pulled its advertising from the Los Angeles Times over what it called factual errors and misrepresentations in... [Read More]

Tracked on April 8, 2005 10:29 PM

» The power of a sponsor vs. the freedom of the media from rand holman's THE DAILY POLEMIC
But as a consumer, and as a writer who adores the First Amendment, I would like to see the L.A. Times stand its ground, that is, only if it is proven that there are no factual errors or misrepresentations in any copy about GM. [Read More]

Tracked on April 9, 2005 12:48 AM

» The Story That Ticked Off GM from Cheat-Seeking Missiles
I wish GM had canned the LAT for its political bias, its religious bias, its green bias and its self-righteous arrogance. But ... [Read More]

Tracked on April 9, 2005 2:01 AM

» Rip & Read Blogger Podcast for 2005-04-10 from Rip & Read Blogger Podcast
Here's what I Ripped and Read in my Podcast today: Captain Ed at the Captains Quarters is more blunt: Welcome To The Free Market After a number of poor editorial decisions, including running North Korean propaganda as a front-page ne... [Read More]

Tracked on April 10, 2005 12:35 PM

» Kevin from Kevin
Jarrod [Read More]

Tracked on March 28, 2006 4:54 PM

» Kevin from Kevin
Jarrod [Read More]

Tracked on March 28, 2006 4:56 PM