Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shione said Wednesday that he is working “behind the scenes” to create a “bias meter” for every article published in the paper.
He said he expects new tools powered by artificial intelligence to be released by January.
The businessman has vowed to bring more conservative voices to the paper and shake up the balance of the newsroom after facing intense backlash for blocking the paper from endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. This is the latest project to take.
Soon-Shiong discussed future business with Scott Jennings, a conservative commentator and avid Trump supporter who was recently elected to the editorial board.
All articles in the LA Times' News and Opinion section will be tagged with Biasmeter, Soon-Shiong said Wednesday when Jennings guest-hosted. “Mike Gallagher Show”
“This is to help readers understand that there is some degree of bias in the sources of articles,” said Soon-Shiong, who bought the Times in 2018 for $500 million.
“Readers can press a button and get both sides of the exact same story based on that story and make comments,” he explained.
The LA Times did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Soon-Shiong first vowed in November to level out the paper's left-leaning political leanings.
“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,” he said.
Her pledge came despite intense backlash when the paper's editorial board blocked her endorsement of Harris last month. Thousands of readers canceled their subscriptions and called on others to boycott the company on social media. Several members of the editorial board were enraged by this and resigned.
But Soon-Shiong pulled back, saying the LA Times was “confusing news and opinion” and vowing to ensure both sides of the political spectrum are “heard” and “represented.” did.
Last week, he announced that Jennings would join the paper's editorial board, a decision that also sparked controversy.
A billionaire newspaper owner abruptly ends an interview with reporter Oliver Darcy after Darcy presents him with the choice of hiring Jennings. Darcey left CNN and started her own newsletter.
in him status newsletterDarcy reported that the interview “started out warm enough,” but the demeanor changed when Jennings pushed back on Soon-Shiong's claims to be “respectful” and “thoughtful” during the broadcast with other CNN panelists. Something completely changed.
Ms Darcey said her respect for Mr Jennings was “very debatable” and accused him of defending President-elect Donald Trump and his “endless litany of lies and conspiracy theories”. I wrote that I did.
Mr. Soon-Shiong, who was “visibly irritated,” objected to the conversation about Mr. Trump and criticized Mr. Darcey for being a “so-called reporter” before ending the interview, Mr. Darcey wrote in his newsletter.
