Disney ends the Los Angeles Times blacklisting with shady statement
UPDATE:
The media blackout is over. Faced with an industry-wide boycott by film critics, Disney issued a terse, vague statement ending its media blackout on coverage from the Los Angeles Times.
"We’ve had productive discussions with the newly installed leadership at The Los Angeles Times regarding our specific concerns, and as a result, we’ve agreed to restore access to advance screenings for their film critics,” Disney said in a statement given to the New York Times.
Original post follows:
Four major film critic organizations released a joint statement, directed at Disney, that sends one blunt message: Enough with this bullshit.
The statement in question is a response to Disney's media blackout of the Los Angeles Times, a retaliatory response to what the Lucasfilm and Marvel owner has characterized as "biased and inaccurate" coverage of the company's business dealings with the city of Anaheim, California. The Los Angeles Film Critics Association, New York Film Critics Circle, Boston Society of Film Critics, and National Society of Film Critics all joined together to send the message early Tuesday.
In the statement, the four organizations denounced Disney's ban of the LA Times from pre-release screenings, interview junkets, and other coverage opportunities. The critics groups said Disney's films will be disqualified from consideration for end-of-year awards until the blackout is "publicly rescinded."
"It is admittedly extraordinary for a critics' group, let alone four critics' groups, to take any action that might penalize film artists for decisions beyond their control," the statement reads. "But Disney brought forth this action when it chose to punish The Times' journalists rather than express its disagreement with a business story via ongoing public discussion. Disney's response should gravely concern all who believe in the importance of a free press, artists included."
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In a separate statement released on Tuesday, the Television Critics Association also addressed the boycott in strong terms. It was signed by the full TCA board, save for Vice President Sarah Rodman, who opted to recuse herself because she works for the LA Times.
"The Television Critics Association understands that screeners and coverage opportunities are a privilege and not a right, but we condemn any circumstance in which a company takes punitive action against journalists for doing their jobs."
The business story addressed in the statement was the LA Times' recent article "Is Disney paying its share in Anaheim?" (and its follow-up "How one election changed Disneyland’s relationship with its hometown"), which explores the relationship between Disneyland — the original, California-based Disney theme park — and the city of Anaheim, where Disneyland is based.
The critics organizations' joint statement is the most high-profile development yet in a story that's been building steam since the blackout was first revealed in an LA Times Editor's Note on Nov. 3.
Notably, it was The Washington Post's critic-at-large Alyssa Rosenberg who kicked off the now-rapidly escalating Disney boycott on Monday. "[A]s long as Disney is blocking the critics from the Los Angeles Times from press screenings, I can’t in good conscience attend similar showings or write reviews in advance," Rosenberg wrote.
Two other outlets, AV Club and Flavorwire, followed suit not long after.
The timing of this controversy is especially bad for Disney, as voting on year-end awards is set to commence shortly for the four critics organizations joining the boycott. In addition to the just-released Thor: Ragnorok, the entertainment giant also has Star Wars: The Last Jedi still to come, as well as a string of hits released in 2017, including the live-action Beauty and the Beast, Cars 3, and Coco.
UPDATED Nov. 7 at 12:31 p.m. ET with a statement from the Television Critics Association.
UPDATED Nov. 7 at 3:09 p.m. ET with a statement from Disney.
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
