Former Los Angeles Times senior legal columnist Harry Littman announced this week that he is resigning from the liberal news organization, accusing the paper's owner of “appeasing” President-elect Donald Trump.
Appearing on MSNBC on Thursday, Littman told network anchor Nicole Wallace that the Los Angeles Times, under owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shione, has taken a decidedly less partisan position and is a threat to Trump's democracy. He said he had abdicated his responsibility to confront the president's threats.
“I think they're just hunkering down and worrying about their personal assets and being threatened by Trump. And I think that's a really shameful capitulation. So I I just felt like I couldn't be a part of it and had to resign,” Littman said. he said on the air, adding to what he claimed in a recent Substack article.
Soon-Shiong, a billionaire technology entrepreneur and doctor who bought the Times in 2018, said in September that when the Times announced it would not endorse the president in the 2024 election, liberals, including the paper's staff, It caused an uproar among the people.
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Former LA Times columnist Harry Littman said he resigned from the outlet because he refused to directly oppose President-elect Trump.
The paper's editorial board has endorsed every Democratic presidential candidate since 2008 and was scheduled to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris. But Soon-Shiong insisted the Times wanted to take a nonpartisan approach to its election coverage this year.
The decision sparked a backlash from staff, with three editorial board members resigning in protest. Mr Soon-Shiong has since pledged to further strengthen his commitment to non-partisanship and establish a “new editorial board” to promote reader trust in the media.
As evidence of this change, conservative CNN commentator Scott Jennings accepted an editorial board post last month. Commenting on the owner's new vision, he told X: “I think Dr. Soon-Shiong is doing something important and groundbreaking, and I'm honored that he asked me to play that role.” I wrote.
Littman is the latest Los Angeles Times employee to leave MSNBC over its owner's “bowing to Trump.”
When asked about his decision to resign, Wallace said, “The dossier has a very important role now and in this country. Trump has taken control of the political arena, perhaps the Supreme Court, and will now pursue the FBI. There is a possibility that I will.” The military, and in fact, they are one of the few organizations that can stand up and resist. ”
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Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, owner of the Los Angeles Times, decided in October that the paper would not endorse any 2024 presidential candidates. (Marcus Yam/Contributor)
“And that's their highest tradition and Trump has made it clear that he's going to go after them. And it's, you know, an absolute five-alarm,” he added.
The columnist, a former federal prosecutor appointed by President Bill Clinton, wrote his “last op-ed for the Times” on his Substack page on Thursday, declaring that he had “resigned from office” the day before. .
“I do not want to continue working for a newspaper that appeases Mr. Trump and promotes attacks on democratic rule for persistent reasons,” he added in the article.
He went on to tell Wallace, “And I don't think this is the time for balance when you have people on the other side who aren't telling the truth. And that's a huge responsibility. And instead, I think they're hunkering down and worrying about their own personal things, and they're just being threatened by Trump. ”
In addition to the new editorial board, Soon-Shiong recently published his own paper “Bias meter” using AI In the near future.
During an episode of “The Mike Gallagher Show,” Soon-Shi-on told guest host Jennings: “Whether it's news or opinion, maybe an opinion or a voice, it has a bias meter so someone can understand it as they read it. It means there's some degree of bias in the source of the article.”
President-elect Donald Trump attends the Fox Nation Patriot Awards ceremony. (Fox Nation)
Owners expressed hope that the meters would be on sale by January.
The Los Angeles Times did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
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