OAN Staff James Meyers
3:39 PM – Wednesday, November 13, 2024
The billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times announced that he will be overhauling his “very left” editorial board after deciding to refrain from publicly endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris via the progressive outlet.
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Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, the owner, said that Harris’ support for Israel’s military actions in Gaza was one of the main reasons that he refused to endorse the Democrat. He also claimed that he wants to hire more conservative voices to join his media team.
However, many social media users highlighted how this is a confusing reason and point of view, considering that the majority of conservatives back Israel’s war efforts against Hamas terrorists.
Soon-Shiong further emphasized that he was seeking a better “balance” after vowing to replace the remaining members of the editorial board who did not quit after he killed the endorsement for Harris.
“If we were honest with ourselves, our current board of opinion writers veered very left, which is fine, but I think in order to have balance, you also need to have somebody who would trend right, and more importantly, somebody that would trend in the middle,” Soon-Shiong said.
Leading up to the election, Soon-Shiong blocked his editorial board from publishing its endorsement of Harris, but suggested that it print two side-by side analysis pieces that included the pros and cons of electing either candidate.
Thousands ended up canceling their subscriptions in protest and multiple members of the editorial board resigned.
The publication has a combined print and digital audience of 4.4 million subscribers, according to the analytics firm Meltwater.
Earlier this week, Soon-Shiong also posted on X that he plans to make his newspaper “fair and balanced so that all voices are heard and we can respectfully exchange every America’s view…from left to right to the center.”
“Coming soon. A new Editorial Board. Trust in media is critical for a strong democracy,” Soon-Shiong wrote on X.
The billionaire told CNN that his plan to change up the editorial board is “not as inflammatory as you’re firing everybody.” Instead, he said he was “really trying to identify voices that speak to all the Americans.”
He noted that the publication needs to make a clearer distinction between its hard news coverage and the opinion and editorial sections.
“Somebody just picking up the paper, Gen Z today or something, I don’t know would recognize that that is an opinion,” he said.
“This conflation of news and opinion of the news sometimes gets all mixed up, and I think that’s part of the problem of why there’s a reduction in trust of the press.”
Despite donating to Democrats in the past, including $50,000 in donations to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, Soon-Shiong was quick to congratulate Trump on his first presidential win, tweeting, “Incredible honor dining w/Pres-elect @realDonaldTrump last night. He truly wants to advance #healthcare for all.”
After Trump won this year’s election, Soon-Shiong said that his newspaper will provide the facts and will try not to deliver bias coverage.
“The American people have spoken and L.A. Times will take the lead to provide factual and balanced coverage as the country heals its division,” he said.
The move is also similar to billionaire Jeff Bezos, the Washington Post owner who also prevented his newspaper’s editorial board from endorsing Harris.
Bezos’ move prompted almost 250,000 readers of the newspaper to cancel their subscriptions in response.
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