Disney At War With Movie Critics

(RTTNews) - Media conglomerate Walt Disney Inc. (DIS) has lifted the ban it had imposed on the Los Angeles Times critics' attending its film screenings after the banning created huge uproar among journalists.

"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.

Last week, Disney had banned Los Angeles Times critics from attending film screenings after the paper published a critical coverage of its business dealings in Anaheim.

Several number of news outlets, including The New York Times and the A.V. Club, showed their support for Los Angeles Times and said they would boycott all advance screenings of Disney films.

On Tuesday, members of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the New York Film Critics Circle, the Boston Society of Film Critics and the National Society of Film Critics jointly announced their decision to disqualify Disney's movies from year-end award consideration unless the blackout was "publicly rescinded."

"Disney's actions are antithetical to the principles of a free press and set a dangerous precedent in a time of already heightened hostility towards journalists," the organizations said in a joint statement.

The row had started after the Los Angeles Times published an investigative series in September explaining the relationship between Disneyland and the city of Anaheim. The author, Daniel Miller, wrote that Disney used aggressive carrot-and-stick strategies to squeeze Anaheim for subsidies, incentives, rebates and protections from future taxes despite generating huge profits.