The owner of The Los Angeles Times has instructed his outlet’s editors to stop writing about newly elected President Donald Trump, according to a new report.
Ex-CNN journalist Oliver Darcy reported on a memo he was told by Times staff that he complained about the way owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong directly intervened when it came to publishing articles critical of Trump in the newspaper, and to make other editorial decisions.
According to the memo, which was sent to Editor-in-Chief Terry Tang and signed by several Opinion staff members, Dr. Soon-Shiong instructed the editors to “take a break from writing about” the president-elect.
Staffers signed off on the memo because they viewed Dr. Soon-Shiong considered “alarming actions” and noted that they were committed to “reporting anything that could cast a shadow on the Times’ reputation,” the report said.
Employees of the LA Times have reportedly expressed concerns about their newspaper’s owner, Dr. Soon-Shiong, and his “alarming actions” in their attempt to make the newspaper’s editorial staff less liberal. (Marcus Yam / Contributor)
“We understand that Dr. Soon Shiong has a role in shaping the tone and direction of the editorial and opinion section, but we are still bound by the core values and ethics of journalism, including the duty to be transparent and act in the service of the public,” the memo said.
It added: “We believe we have an obligation to report these under the ethics policy, which states that ‘the primary purpose should always be to protect the integrity of The Times.'”
The memo also claimed that Dr. Soon-Shiong “introduced a new policy banning editorials that contain criticism of the president-elect unless they are presented alongside another op-ed representing the ‘opposing view’.”
The report continued: “This new restriction, which appears to apply only to matters involving Trump and not to other officials or issues, has effectively killed or preempted several editorials that were written and edited but not published delayed indefinitely.”
The memo also accused the owner of demanding that the editors send him the text of each editorial and the names of the authors before they were published. “Editorial positions and content have been preemptively censored before publication, and their arguments, headlines and subject matter are subject to boundaries that did not previously exist,” the memo said.
The report is the latest in the LA Times owner’s mission to make the paper a “middle of the road, trusted news source,” a mission he went public with after announcing in October that the editors of the newspaper do not endorse a presidential candidate in the 2024 presidential election.
The denied approval received a major backlash, with the newspaper losing more than 20,000 subscribers. Some journalists and contributors also quit the paper in response.
Despite the outrage, the owner continued to push for an unbiased LA Times. He announced last month that the newspaper would have a “new editorial board‘ with diverse voices, including CNN’s conservative political commentator Scott Jennings.
“Trust in the media is crucial for a strong democracy,” he wrote on X, touting his ambitions for a new administration.
In an interview Speaking to Fox News in November, Dr. Soon-Shiong said: “It is our responsibility to preserve democracy, to make the views of all our California readers, in fact, the views of all our national readers, heard. Because if we If you have one side, it becomes nothing but an echo chamber.”
The LA Times did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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