Harry Litman, a former senior legal columnist for the Los Angeles Times, announced this week that he had resigned from the liberal newspaper, accusing the paper’s owner of trying to “appease” newly elected President Donald Trump.
Appearing on MSNBC on Thursday, Litman told network anchor Nicolle Wallace that the Los Angeles Times has abdicated its responsibility to confront Trump’s threat to democracy by taking an explicitly less partisan stance under its ownership. Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong.
“I think they were cowering and worried about their personal belongings and just being threatened by Trump. And that’s really a shameful capitulation, I think. So I just felt like I couldn’t be a part of it and had to resign,” Litman said. said on air, expanding on what he had argued in a recent Substack article.
Soon-Shiong, a billionaire tech entrepreneur and doctor who bought the Times in 2018, caused an uproar among liberals — including his outlet’s staff — when he announced in September that the paper would not make a big profit. presidential approval in the 2024 elections.
Ex-LA Times columnist Harry Litman said he resigned because the company has refused to directly oppose President-elect Trump.
The newspaper’s editorial staff has supported every Democratic presidential candidate since 2008 and planned to support Vice President Kamala Harris. Soon-Shiong, however, insisted he wanted the Times to take an “impartial” approach to covering this year’s election.
The decision sparked a backlash from staff, prompting three editorial board members to be fired resign in protest. Since then, Soon-Shiong has doubled down on this commitment to impartiality, promising to establish a “new editorial board,” which he says will promote reader trust in the media.
Evidence of this shift, conservatively CNN commentator Scott Jennings accepted a position on the editorial staff last month. Commenting on the owner’s new vision, he wrote on
Litman became the latest Los Angeles Times employee to quit, citing what he called the “owner’s capitulation to Trump” on MSNBC.
Wallace asked him about his decision to resign, to which he replied: “Papers play such an important role now and in this country. Trump has conquered the political arena, perhaps the Supreme Court, and he’s now going after the FBI, possibly too. the military, and actually they are one of the few institutions that are able to stand up and push back.”
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The owner of the Los Angeles Times, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, made the decision in October not to have his paper endorse a 2024 presidential candidate. (Marcus Yam / Contributor)
“And it’s in their best tradition, and Trump has made it clear he’s going to go after them. And that is an absolute five-alarm fire,” he added.
The columnist, a former U.S. attorney appointed by President Bill Clinton, stated on his Substack page Thursday that he had “written my last op-ed for the Times” and had “resigned from my position” the day before.
“I do not want to continue working for a newspaper that appeases Trump and facilitates his attack on Democratic rule for craven reasons,” he added.
He continued to Wallace, “And I just don’t think this is a time for balance when you have someone on the other side who isn’t telling the truth. And it is a deep responsibility. And instead, I think they cowered and worried about their personal situation. property and just being threatened by Trump.”
In addition to a new editorial board, Soon-Shiong recently announced that his paper is considering a AI-powered “bias meter” in the near future.
During an episode of “The Mike Gallagher Show,” Soon-Shiong told Jennings, who was guest hosting, “Whether it’s news or opinions — more likely the opinions or the votes — you have a bias meter so someone can understand it as they read it that the source of the article has a certain degree of bias.”
President-elect Donald Trump at the Fox Nation Patriot Awards. (Fox Nation)
The owner expressed hope that the meter would be launched in January.
The Los Angeles Times did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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