The billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times has bizarrely defended his “far-left” editorial board's reform plans after blocking Vice President Kamala Harris' endorsement.
Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong said Harris' support for Israel's military action in Gaza was one of the main reasons he refused to support the Democratic Party, and said he wanted to adopt a more conservative voice. The nation's war on Hamas terrorists, a strange view given that the majority of conservatives support Jews.
Mr Soon-Shiong nevertheless claimed he was seeking a better “balance” after vowing to replace the remaining members of the editorial board who did not resign after ending their support of Mr Harris.
“To be honest, the current opinion writers committee is very left-leaning, and that’s fine, but in order to balance it out, we need people who lean to the right, and more importantly, people who lean to the right.” “I think you need someone who's in the middle,” Soon-Shiong said.
Last month, he blocked the editorial board from publishing a statement of support for Harris, including the pros and cons of electing either the Democrat or Republican Donald Trump, who ultimately won decisively. We proposed that two analysis articles be published side by side.
Thousands of people canceled their subscriptions in protest, and several editorial board members resigned.
The publication has 4.4 million print and digital subscribers. According to analytics firm Meltwater.
Soon-Shiong wrote in X earlier this week that he intends to make his newspaper “so that every voice is heard and every opinion in America is respected… from left to right to center.” .
“Coming soon. New editorial board. Trust in the media is essential to a strong democracy,” Soon-Shiong wrote to X.
Soon-Shiong, who bought the Times in 2018 for $500 million, told CNN that his plan to shake up the editorial board is “not as inflammatory as firing everyone.” Instead, he said, he is “trying to identify a voice that speaks to all Americans.”
He told CNN that publications need to more clearly differentiate between hard news reporting and opinion and editorial sections.
“I don't know if anyone who picks up this paper today, Gen Z or whatever, will realize that it's an opinion,” he said.
“I think that's part of the problem of why trust in the press is declining, because news and opinion about the news can get mixed up in this way.”
last week, This was reported by the independent site Drop Site News. Patrick Soon-Shiong reportedly circulated an internal email to the LA Times stating that the Israel-Gaza conflict and the administration's policies were among the reasons for his decision not to support the candidate.
“There have been times in our history when our country knowingly provided weapons to other countries to kill children, women, and innocent people, and to target the press, doctors, and health care workers. And the policies that make this possible seem to be supported by both candidates?'' he wrote in an email to employees.
Here are the notes: new york times According to reports, his daughter Nika Soon-Shiong, 31, said her family had made a “joint decision not to support” the candidate, citing the Biden-Harris administration's “open funding of genocide” in Gaza. I did,” he said.
Citing her father's upbringing in his native South Africa during apartheid, she writes of X: But now we need to stand up against crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and apartheid, just as my parents did in South Africa. ”
Patrick Soon-Shiong issued a statement shortly after the Times published the article, saying Nika Soon-Shiong was “speaking my opinions in a personal capacity.”
“As has been made clear numerous times, she has no role at the Los Angeles Times and does not participate in decisions or discussions with the editorial board,” the paper's owners said in a statement. Ta.
Her father later confirmed earlier reports that Harris' support for the administration's policies toward Israel and the war in Gaza influenced her decision not to support the candidate.
“Someone asked me, 'Is that the reason?'” I said, “That wasn't the only reason.” “That's obviously one of the reasons, and there are many others, but I think all of them should be transparently exposed,” he told CNN.
The Post has reached out to the LA Times for comment.
Soon-Shiong's intervention mirrored that of Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, who blocked the paper's editorial board from endorsing Harris.
Bezos' move caused about 250,000 readers of the newspaper to cancel their subscriptions.
