W.S.J. v. G.M.

The nation's No. 1 manufacturing corporation last week was deep in a feud with the nation's No. 1 business paper.

General Motors cut off all company news and releases from the Wall Street Journal (circ. 258,448). When the W.SJ. tried to get the company's production figures through the Associated Press, G.M. also refused to give them to the A.P. On top of that, G.M. canceled all its advertising in the Journal--about $250,000 worth a year.

The argument between G.M. and the W.SJ. began months ago when G.M. protested against alleged errors in a W.SJ.

story. But it was not until the Journal ran a dope story on the new 1955 auto models four weeks ago (TIME, June 7) that G.M. blew a gasket. In Detroit new models are always a closely guarded secret, revealed to newsmen only on an off-the-record basis until the companies are ready to put them on sale. But the Journal refused to hear "off-the-record" information. It got its story from the tool-and-die shops of Detroit and from competing auto companies, pieced together a rough--and not always accurate--picture of what the new cars will be like.

Missed Point? When G.M. dealers wrote in to complain that the story would hurt their sales, the W.SJ. printed the letters and an editorial: "When a newspaper begins to suppress . . . news, whether at the behest of its advertisers or on pleas from special segments of business ... it will soon cease to have readers." The Journal, rejoined G.M., seemed to miss the point. "To the extent that this was a reporting of news derived from sources free to divulge the information, we have no objection . . . even though such information, published many months in advance of the introduction of new models, may . . . prejudice the sale of . . . current . . . products. We do, however, object to the publication of statements and particularly sketches which have as their source . . . the manufacturer's . . . blueprint [that] assertedly came from General Motors' own drafting boards.

This involved a breach of a confidential relationship, since such blueprints . . . are released to industry sources and suppliers . . . on a confidential basis." G.M. Customer. The Wall Street Journal's President Bernard Kilgore was surprised but not distressed by G.M.'s embargo and ad withdrawal. Said he: "For years almost everything -in Detroit has been 'off the record.' We just decided not to play it that way. It isn't journalism." Kilgore agrees that there may be honest differences of opinion over what should and should not be printed, and that "our editors are perfectly willing to discuss these differences, but not under pressure." Added he: "The Journal is not mad at anybody. I have a General Motors car,--and I certainly don't intend to sell it."

* 1951 Chevrolet sedan.

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