Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, owner of the Los Angeles Times, indicated in a new interview with his staff that he intends to sell the paper if financial progress is not made.
“I will continue to provide funding” as long as progress is made, he said in an interview published in his newspaper. Soon-Shiong said it was important for the Los Angeles Times to expand its coverage, and the only way to do that was to “not become an echo chamber for one side.”
Soon-Shiong’s newspaper lost more than 20,000 subscribers when its editorial board stopped supporting Vice President Kamala Harris before the election, sparking anger among his staff and his resignation. In another recent interview, the owner vowed major reforms at the L.A. Times and lamented that his paper confuses news and opinion.
“But if this is all considered a charitable trust, something has to change. It’s not. A sustainable business has to happen,” he added.
LA Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong emphasized in a recent interview that the paper needs to grow its readership to survive.
Kamala Harris says it’s ‘unfortunate’ that Washington Post and La Times didn’t support and scrapped billionaire’s ‘club’
“Those who cancel their subscriptions need to respect the fact that there are two opinions on certain points and no one has a 100% correct opinion,” Soon-Shiong told the outlet. “And healing the country is really important to us. We have to stop being so polarized.”
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Soon-Shiong said he would like to have more conservative writers on editorial and editorial boards. He recently announced that CNN conservative political commentator Scott Jennings will be a new member of the board.
Soon-Shiong also said his goal is to transform the paper’s culture into a “centrist and trusted news source.” The paper’s reporters were furious at his suggestion that he was not previously centrist, but the Los Angeles Times acknowledged that its editorial board leans to the left — the paper ran a Democratic candidate for president in 2008. Since I started supporting it, I have only supported the Democratic Party.
He also proposed an AI-powered “bias meter” that would alert readers to the ideological leanings of articles and opinion pieces, sparking outrage in newsrooms.
In an interview with FOX News in November, Soon-Shiong said, “It’s our responsibility to uphold our democracy and air the opinions of all our readers in California, and in fact, the opinions of all our readers across the country. One side. If you have one, it just becomes an echo chamber.”
A general view of the Los Angeles Times offices in El Segundo, California, on November 10, 2020.
“So it’s going to be risky and it’s going to be difficult. I’m going to put in a lot of enthusiasm, I already am, but you know, I think it’s really important that all voices are heard. I come from a position of being,” Soon-Shiong said.
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In total, Soon-Shiong has invested about $1 billion in local journalism, which needs to see its online audience grow, according to a report in the LA Times.
“What are we doing unless we’re creating a paper that can attract and grow readers?” he asked.
The Washington Post faced similar backlash after choosing not to endorse the president. The Post’s subscription numbers plummeted after it did not support the vice president.
MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski said in an interview on ABC’s “The View” that former President Trump “forced” the Post editorial board not to support Harris in the race. The board was reportedly prepared to endorse Harris before being withdrawn at the last minute.
“He got the Washington Post and Jeff Bezos. Jeff Bezos is probably a powerful, brilliant billionaire. He got Bezos, the head of Amazon, to resign. He ran the Washington Post, Owning it…he forced them not to support it. That’s pretty scary, guys,'” Brzezinski said.
Original source of article: LA Times owner Pushes Paper to be middle of the Road, suggests he will sell if not profitable
