Disney v the LA Times: What’s the story?

There’s been a row between Disney and the LA Times, which has raised issues about journalism and censorship.

Disney temporarily banned the newspaper from preview screenings of its films after it published negative stories about Disneyland.

That ban has now been lifted, but it threatened to affect more than just that one newspaper’s coverage, with critics’ groups in the US weighing in and boycotting Disney.

It all started when the LA Times ran a three-part article on Disney’s business links with the city of Anaheim in September.

Disney thought the coverage, looking at how the company conducted deals with the city, was biased and unfair.

So they decided to take away the LA Times’ critics’ right to review their films in advance and talk to the stars of their movies.

That only became clear to the outside world when there was a note in the newspaper at the weekend, explaining why Disney films were strangely missing from its round-up of films to watch for the Thanksgiving holidays – and why a review of Disney’s Thor: Ragnarok wasn’t published on the day of its release.

It’s normal practice for film journalists to watch advanced screenings of films, before the rest of the world gets to see them. It means that a review can be published as soon as something hits the cinema – and film fans don’t have to wait too long to hear critics’ views.

There are often junkets as well – the slightly strange name for what is basically a press day.
They’re usually held at a hotel, where stars and directors do their best to sell their new movies in a series of interviews