Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong reportedly added Donald Trump to the paper’s editorial board amid the latest reports of the billionaire owner’s growing influence over the paper’s reporting.・He reportedly asked for a “take a break” from writing about Trump.
The paper and its owners were embroiled in weeks of controversy this fall after Soon-Shiong blocked the board from endorsing Kamala Harris’ presidential candidacy. This decision led to the resignation of editorial board members and the loss of thousands of subscribers.
Explaining his decision, Soon-Shiong said he was concerned that endorsing a candidate would exacerbate divisions across the country. He then said the paper had moved too far to the left, creating an “echo chamber” and that he wanted the Los Angeles Times to be more “fair and balanced.”
Earlier this month, Soon-Shiong announced plans to incorporate artificial intelligence-powered “bias meters” into newspaper articles. He also reportedly forbade the paper’s editorial board from publishing editorials about President Trump’s Cabinet picks unless they published articles containing opposing views.
Los Angeles-based biotech billionaire Soon-Shiong told the Los Angeles Times that he plans to become more involved in the paper’s editorial and opinion pages and that the paper needs to expand its readership to survive. Ta.
The extent of Mr Soon-Shiong’s involvement is detailed in a memo from opinion section members to the paper’s editor-in-chief published in the Status newsletter by media reporter Oliver Darcy.
Mr. Soon-Shiong advised the editorial board that it needed to take a break from writing about the president-elect, and that it would ban editorials criticizing Mr. Trump unless they published another article offering an opposing view. It is said that it was set up. According to the memo, this restriction “effectively killed or indefinitely postponed multiple editorials” that were written but never published.
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Mr. Soon-Shiong also requested that editors send him “the text of all editorials and the names of their authors” before publication, which he said would “make it difficult for the board to carry out its duties without fear of retribution.” Staff said the incident caused them “concern.” to status.
“While we understand Dr. Soon-Shiong’s role in shaping the tone and direction of our Editorial Board and Opinion Section, we remain committed to our obligation to be transparent and to serve journalism. , bound by the core values and ethics of journalism and the public,” the staff wrote in the memo.
“We believe we have a duty to report them based on our ethics policy, which states that our first goal is always to protect the integrity of the Times.”
Soon-Shiong acquired the Los Angeles Times and other local newspapers in 2018 for $500 million. Earlier this year, it said it had invested nearly $1 billion in the paper.
The latest controversy comes after a difficult year for the Los Angeles Times, which included the resignation of executive editor Kevin Merida and layoffs that affected about 20% of the news staff.
The Los Angeles Times told the Guardian that the paper’s “management is currently reviewing the concerns expressed in the letter.”
