The editor of the Los Angeles Times editorial resigned Wednesday after the paper's owners reportedly decided not to publicly endorse Vice President Harris this year, especially Vice President Harris.
“I'm resigning because I want to make it clear that it's not OK for us to be silent. In times of danger, honest people need to stand up. This is why I'm resigning,” Mariel Garza said by phone. It’s a way to stand up.” around Columbia Journalism Review (CJR).
Garza highlighted two concerns in a phone conversation with CJR.
“But there are two things that concern me: This is the time to speak your conscience no matter what. And how dangerous President Trump is to our democracy. The logical next step after the series of editorials we have written about Trump's actions was an endorsement of his unfitness to be president and his threats to jail his opponents. “We have argued in editorials that he should not be re-elected,” she told CJR.
He added that readers would find it “probably questionable” that the paper, which flipped the Democratic ticket by endorsing former President Barack Obama in 2008, did not endorse Harris.
In his resignation letter published by CJR, Garza said he struggled with the paper's decision not to endorse Harris until he realized it was important to him.
“Of course, it's significant that the state's largest newspaper, and now the nation's largest newspaper, has refused to support such an important campaign. And it's important that we speak up to people about it. What you don’t say is important,” Garza wrote, according to CJR.
However, Patrick Soon-Shiong, owner of the LA Times, pushed back on Garza's claims. In a post on social platform “We were given the opportunity to draft an analysis.”
The board was also asked to provide an understanding of the policies mentioned in the candidates' current campaigns and their potential impact, Soon-Shiong added in the post.
“Thus, by laying out this clear, nonpartisan information, readers will be able to decide who deserves to be president for the next four years,” Soon-Shiong wrote. “Instead of adopting this proposed path, the editorial board has chosen to remain silent and I have accepted their decision. Please vote.”
Wednesday night, Los Angeles Times Guild issued a statement Soon-Shiong said the decision he did not support was “unfairly placing blame on the government.”
“We are deeply concerned about the owner's decision to block his presidential campaign endorsement plan. We also believe that the owner is attempting to unfairly shift the blame for the decision not to endorse onto editorial board members. We are further concerned,” the guild’s Unit Council and Bargaining Committee said. “We are seeking answers from newsroom management,” he said in the post, adding that he was “demanding answers from newsroom management.”
“The Los Angeles Times Guild stands by its members who have always worked diligently to protect the integrity of our newsrooms,” the statement said.
