LA Times: "Nope."

[George K]

https://www.semafor.com/article/10/22/2024/los-angeles-times-wont-endorse-for-president

The owner of the Los Angeles Times has blocked the paper from endorsing a candidate for president this year.

Last week, the LA Times published its electoral endorsements for the 2024 election. And while the paper noted in its first line that it is “no exaggeration to say this may be the most consequential election in a generation,” that was the only mention of the presidential race in its endorsements.

The paper’s editorial board, which has endorsed Democratic candidates in every presidential race since it first endorsed then-Sen. Barack Obama in 2008, was preparing to do so once again this election.

But according to two people familiar with the situation, executive editor Terry Tang told editorial board staff earlier this month that the paper would not be endorsing a candidate in the presidential election this cycle, a decision that came from the paper’s owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, a doctor who made his fortune in the healthcare industry.

The paper did not explain its decision, though it noted at the bottom of its online endorsement page that “the editorial board endorses selectively, choosing the most consequential races in which to make recommendations.”

An LA Times spokesperson told Semafor, “We do not comment on internal discussions or decisions about editorials or endorsements.”

[George K]

Good for him. I have to admire his honesty.

L.A. Times Editorial Chief Quits After Owner Blocks Harris Endorsement

The head of The Los Angeles Times’s editorial board resigned on Wednesday after the paper’s owner quashed a presidential endorsement for Vice President Kamala Harris.

In an interview with The Columbia Journalism Review, Mariel Garza, who held the title editorials editor, said she had quit because “I want to make it clear that I am not OK with us being silent. In dangerous times, honest people need to stand up. This is how I’m standing up.”

Ms. Garza said the editorial board had planned to endorse Ms. Harris, but Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, the billionaire owner of The Los Angeles Times, decided this month that the newspaper would not make any endorsement for president. The paper did not explain to readers why it was not issuing an endorsement.

Dr. Soon-Shiong, who bought The Los Angeles Times in 2018 for $500 million, said in a social media post on Wednesday that the editorial board had not followed through on a directive to provide information including “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.”
“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 said. “Instead of adopting this path as suggested, the Editorial Board chose to remain silent and I accepted their decision.”

[taiwan_girl]

I guess after all, it is Mr. Soon's sandbox and he can do what he wants.

However, as the same as the union endorsement, I am not sure that in today's world, a newspaper endorsement means a whole lot. I think it may for more "minor" races, but for the president race............

[Doctor Phibes]

Every election is the most consequential one in a generation

[George K]

@George-K said in LA Times: "Nope.":

Good for him. I have to admire his honesty.

Jennifer Rubin agrees with me:

[Copper]

Of course everyone in California endorses Ms. Harris.

But what if the LA Times endorses Ms. Harris and Mr. Trump wins?

MAGA Nazis marching down Sunset Boulevard, that's what.

[George K]

@Copper said in LA Times: "Nope.":

MAGA Nazis marching down Sunset Boulevard, that's what.

Hopefully with tiki torches and khakis.