In its feud against The Los Angeles Times, Disney is looking the villain from its movies.
The entertainment company's battle against The L.A. Times has resulted in the Mouse House getting banned from various film awards. Different critic groups have banded together to support the publication after it was restricted by Disney from covering some of its events like movie and press screenings.
The group which includes The Los Angeles Film Critics Association, New York Film Critics Circle, Boston Society of Film Critics and National Society of Film Critics has rebuked Disney for its ban on The L.A. Times, and made the announcement that all Disney featured film will be disqualified from consideration from the groups' end-of-year award ceremonies until Disney lifts its ban on The L.A. Times.
According to the group, Disney's unfair actions on The L.A. Times are hostile to the inherent principles of journalism and free press and sets a troubling precedent especially in a time where there's heightened aggression against journalism and facts. The group also said that Disney could have handled the article of The L.A. Times better by countering the claims made by the newspaper with its own fact-based writeup instead of punishing the entire publication.
The disagreement between Disney and The L.A. Times started when the newspaper printed an article that depicted the entertainment company in a bad light, alleging that Disney is not paying a fair share to the city of Anaheim. Disney then went on the defensive and banned The L.A. Times from the early screenings of it movies. They also called out the publication for showing an utter disregard for basic journalism standards and went on to accuse The L.A. Times of being biased and motivated by political agenda.
While it is impressive to see that film critics' groups can move in one direction and support a publication under fire, it's still premature to say if they made a dent in banning Disney. It is still one of the largest companies in the world and they may not be backing down anytime soon. Saving face may be important for Disney but they can afford to miss out on some of the awards as well.
