General Motors has yanked its advertisements from the Los Angeles Times, for “factual errors and misrepresentations” in their editorial coverage: GM Pulls L.A. Times Ads. (Hat tip: Greg.)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - General Motors Corp.’s decision to yank its advertising from the Los Angeles Times in a dispute over coverage could dent the profit of parent Tribune Co. at a time when the media company is trying to bolster ad sales after a slump.

The world’s largest automaker, in a rare move for a major corporation, said late on Thursday it was pulling its ads from one of the country’s biggest dailies over what it called factual errors and misrepresentations in the L.A. Times’ editorial coverage.

The boycott likely will be short-lived because GM won’t want to risk losing market share to its rivals in the large L.A. market, publishing analysts said.

But the Chicago-based media company “doesn’t need any more bad news,” said Douglas Arthur, a Morgan Stanley stock analyst. “Tribune remains the cheapest major media company in the country, but probably the one with the most issues right now.”

Another analyst, William Drewry of Credit Suisse First Boston, estimated that GM’s move could lower Tribune’s second-quarter earnings by a penny a share if the automaker withholds ads through June. That would translate into a reduction of 4 cents to 6 cents a share on a full-year basis if GM holds back ads for a 12-month period, according to the report.

But Drewry left his profit forecasts for Tribune unchanged, citing uncertainty on the overall impact of the canceled ads.

“We believe that GM is trying to send the paper a pointed and public message that probably lasts a few weeks at most — maybe a couple of months at the outside,” Drewry wrote.

I wonder if this has anything to do with the LA Times’ recent shilling for Syria and North Korea?