The way in which General Motors Corp. responded effectively to a highly critical column in The New York Times is worthy of study by public relations executives and communications students.

That is the view of Dean Rotbart, host and executive producer of NewsTalk KRLA 870's Newsroom Confidential, a one-hour weekly radio program that provides an insiders' guide to journalists and public relations.

On this week's edition, Rotbart interviews Brian Akre, a senior media strategist at GM, about the automaker's response to a highly critical May 31st Op/Ed column in the Times written by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Thomas L. Friedman. (The full Rotbart/Akre interview can be heard free of charge by clicking on Akre's photo on the main page at www.newsroomconfidential.com.)

Friedman's late May 2006 column, which pilloried a GM promotion offering to cap gas prices for certain of its customers, began this way:

"Is there a company more dangerous to America's future than General Motors? Surely, the sooner this company gets taken over by Toyota, the better off our country will be."

Friedman went on to liken GM to "a crack dealer looking to keep his addicts on a tight leash."

Although Friedman's column accused GM of the lowest form of corporate citizenship, the Times vetoed General Motor's use of the word "rubbish" when Akre and his GM colleagues submitted a letter to the Times in an effort to characterize GM's view of Friedman's charges.

On Newsroom Confidential, Rotbart and Akre examine how GM used its own corporate Blog (http://fyi.gmblogs.com/) to get GM's side of the story disseminated without having to submit to being edited or censored by the Times. Ultimately, Akre tells Rotbart, GM believes far more people learned its view on the Friedman column than ever would have if the company had acquiesced and allowed the Times to publish a diluted version of its response.

Also on this week's edition of Newsroom Confidential, Rotbart interviews three senior journalists on the editorial team of Breakingviews, an innovative global news organization that offers sophisticated, real time financial commentary.

Rotbart's guests are Hugo Dixon, editor and chairman, based in London; Rob Cox, U.S. editor based in New York; and David Vise, senior commentator, based in Washington D.C. Vise, a Pulitzer Prize winner, joined Breakingviews last month after a 22-year career at The Washington Post.

"At a time when many people have come to view news as a commodity, the editors and reporters at Breakingviews have created a value-added news product that is winning high praise from those corporations that depend upon critical, timely insights to make vital financial decisions," notes host Rotbart. "Breakingviews is already the envy of many financial publications and newswires," Rotbart adds.

(The full Breakingviews interview with Dixon, Cox and Vise can be heard free of charge by clicking on Dixon's photo on the main page at www.newsroomconfidential.com.)

Rotbart is a Pulitzer Prize nominated journalist and founding editor of NewsBios.com, which provides in-depth dossiers on more than 6,000 influential journalists.

Newsroom Confidential is made possible through the support of well- respected sponsors, including PR Newswire, the global leader in news and information distribution services for professional communicators.

For more information or to recommend a journalist or other media or public relations insider as a future guest on the program, contact Dean Rotbart, Newsroom Confidential executive producer, at 1-866-NEWS-070 or email him at dean@newsroomconfidential.com.

SOURCE: Newsroom Confidential