LA Times owner tells the truth about Kamala Harris non-endorsement fiasco — and it exposes the rot in journalism
The owner of the Los Angeles Times is setting the record straight.
After decades of endorsing Democrats for president, the L.A. Times is not endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for president — but that’s not because the editorial board did not want to. Rather, Semafor claimed that L.A. Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong “blocked” the paper from endorsing Harris.
‘Instead of adopting this path as suggested, the Editorial Board chose to remain silent and I accepted their decision.’
Mariel Garza, the now-resigned editorials editor at L.A. Times, told Columbia Journalism Review that she had drafted an outline for an editorial endorsing Harris when she was informed the paper would not be endorsing anyone. Garza, in an interview, suggested the decision blindsided her.
But, according to Soon-Shiong, that’s not exactly what happened.
Instead, Soon-Shiong, a billionaire who purchased the failing newspaper in 2018, explained on Wednesday that the editorial board did not follow a directive to be fair and balanced.
“The Editorial Board was provided the opportunity to draft a factual analysis of all the POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE policies by EACH candidate during their tenures at the White House, and how these policies affected the nation,” Soon-Shiong said.
“In addition, the Board was asked to provide their understanding of the policies and plans enunciated by the candidates during this campaign and its potential effect on the nation in the next four years. In this way, with this clear and non-partisan information side-by-side, our readers could decide who would be worthy of being President for the next four years,” he explained.
But his employees chose not to follow that directive.
“Instead of adopting this path as suggested, the Editorial Board chose to remain silent and I accepted their decision,” Soon-Shiong revealed.
In response, Garza did not dispute the directive to be fair and balanced to Harris and Donald Trump. Instead, she complained that a fair analysis of each candidate fails to qualify as an “endorsement.”
“What he outlines in that tweet is not an endorsement, or even an editorial,” Garza told CJR.
Importantly, CJR executive editor Sewell Chan explained why Soon-Shiong had the right to issue his directive to the L.A. Times editorial board.
“I have deep respect for the Soon-Shiong family, who rescued the paper from the doomed and recently bankrupt Tribune Company,” Chan wrote at CJR. “He’s a decent and thoughtful person, and as the owner of the paper, it is ultimately up to him to set the editorial direction.”
Garza ultimately justified her resignation by telling CJR that she is “not OK with us being silent” because “in dangerous times, honest people need to stand up.” Moreover, she acknowledged the L.A. Times is a “very liberal” newspaper whose readers are Harris supporters and whose endorsement would do next to nothing.
And yet, it’s telling that journalists at one of the biggest newspapers in the country allegedly refused to treat Trump in a fair and balanced way. The average American, though, is probably not surprised.
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