it'd be the same thing, if say, Disney dumped the Times for giving a bad review of Cars 4 - its not the same thing when you're covering a local issue, which is corruption in the City of Anaheim. They're lacking in 'moral equivalency'.
I am not sure I see a huge distinction between the two. One is bullying the industry press to give you favorable reviews. One is bullying the industry press to avoid publishing stories that paint you in a negative light.
You're trying to limit this to a discussion of whether the coverage is good or bad for the company in question, but in Disney's case, there was also the public interest angle of the capture of Anaheim city council. I don't give a shit if I don't have a review of the iPhone X on the release date, but if Apple had corrupted my city council, I'd be very interested.
Apple also has a history of doing the exact same thing as Disney by shunning reviewers that they feel do not treat them fairly.