Los Angeles Times won't endorse for president

[Polybius]

Source: Semafor

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.

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

---

Link to tweet

[msongs]

1. one suspects the people trump wants to deport do not read the LA times nt

[patphil]

2. They should have made their endorsement a couple weeks ago.

[Ramsey Barner]

3. Gotta love editorial independence. (sarcasm)

[PortTack]

4. To the great ppl of CA...especially subscribers of the Times...cut them off at the knees!

[Biglinda 52]

5. So...

who reads the LA Times anymore?

[NBachers]

6. So what? Do it anyway. Print it, run the presses, and get it out on the streets. EXTRA! EXTRA!

[bsiebs]

7. LA Times is a great paper... I have no idea where this came from...

Locally, their editorial opinions are fairly liberal.. this is really fucked


I cancelled my NYT subscription a year ago.. I need at least one national paper..

[NoRethugFriends]

26. The article literally tells you where it came from

[LudwigPastorius]

8. Sounds like multi-billionaire Dr. Pat just can't quit those sweet, sweet tax cuts.

I would have expected more concern for Trump's creeping fascism and white nationalism from someone who grew up on the wrong side of apartheid.

[EllieBC]

9. The media benefited from Trump.

CNN had record viewership. Print news had record subscriptions. They don’t want to say it out loud but also they are saying it out loud if you listen. They want Trump because he will bring in $.

[rpannier]

12. I read a few articles on this guy. He's friends with Trump

He also killed a story about two years back where the dog of a friend of his bit someone. Wouldn't allow it to be printed
He's a jerk

[ailsagirl]

14. Apparently so

[dalton99a]

10. The richest man in Los Angeles

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Soon-Shiong

Patrick Soon-Shiong (Chinese: 黃馨祥; born July 29, 1952) is a South African and American businessman, investor, medical researcher, philanthropist, and transplant surgeon. He is the inventor of the drug Abraxane, which became known for its efficacy against lung, breast, and pancreatic cancer. Soon-Shiong is the founder of NantWorks, a network of healthcare, biotech, and artificial intelligence startups;[2] an adjunct professor of surgery and executive director of the Wireless Health Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles; and a visiting professor at Imperial College London and Dartmouth College.[3][4][5]

Soon-Shiong is the chairman of three nonprofit organizations: the Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation, which aims to fund research and erase disparities in access to health care and education;[6] the Chan Soon-Shiong Institute for Advanced Health, which is focused on changing the way health information is shared;[7] and the Healthcare Transformation Institute, a partnership with the University of Arizona and Arizona State University.[2] He has been a minority owner of the Los Angeles Lakers since 2010, and since June 2018, he has been the owner and executive chairman of the Los Angeles Times.[8]

Soon-Shiong's net worth is $6.2 billion as of 2024.[9] He has been called the richest man in Los Angeles and one of the wealthiest doctors in the world.[10]

[Nasruddin]

13. Yet another one?

Patrick Soon-Shiong (Chinese: 黃馨祥; born July 29, 1952) is a South African and American businessman,

[Tarzanrock]

11. The last time the L.A. Times was a great newspaper ...

... was when Otis Chandler was running it. Since then it has become nothing but a shit rag. I long ago stopped my subscription to it.

[ailsagirl]

15. I can see why n/t

[niyad]

16. ". . .a doctor who made his fortune in the healthcare industry." Forget

thevrest of the article, that sentence just pissed me off.

[wolfie001]

17. Patrick Soon-Shiong is a wealthy creep who interferes with his paper's business

He's directed his paper to kill stories, and he ordered the editorial board not to make a decision on the race. Unsurprisingly, people have resigned in protest to his antics. Just another day in the 'era of the billionaire.'

P.S.- also, he's from South Africa so he probably consults with E-Loon Muskrat frequently. And Peter Thiele. Said someone very famous, "It's a club and you ain't in it."

[travelingthrulife]

18. pathetic.

.

[toesonthenose]

19. Probably scared they are going to be sent to the re-education camps if the orange felon wins

[Zilli]

20. Here is a little quote from Dante.

"The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in a time of moral crisis, preserve their neutrality."

[Maeve]

21. Health care should not be a for-profit business

[Mosby]

22. 119,000 print subscriptions

In a metro area of almost 13 million. Things sure have changed.

[maxsolomon]

23. Can you believe the New York Times? Traitor Fascist Scum!

Oh, wait. This wasn't the NYT?

There are OTHER newspapers in the US?

[Polybius]

24. The NYT gets heat here, but they endorsed Harris 3 weeks ago

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/09/30/new-york-times-kamala-harris-endorsement-00181639

[maxsolomon]

25. Unpossible!

I read it on DU that they're "traitorous fascist scum"!

[LoisB]

27. Maybe he doesn't want to offend his fellow South African, Elon Musk, with a Harris endorsement and/or

doesn't want to lose any more subscribers (purchasers) with a trump endorsement?

[Arne]

28. If your the owner you can do it.

Grab em by the phussy.

[Wiz Imp]

29. I posted this elsewhere but I'll post again here

Sheesh. why are they listening to the owner? Go ahead and run the endorsement anyway. Where's their self respect? So saving the country isn't a good enough reason for those cowards to risk losing their job? They can always get another job. Once the country is gone, it's gone. Pathetic.

[thucythucy]

30. Something I often heard repeated when I was in journalism school:

"It's a free press if you own one."

Which just about sums it up.