Los Angeles Times owner talks Spining Harris endorsement, reforming paper

EXCLUSIVE- Los Angeles Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon Shiong made waves with his changes to the historically left-leaning paper, speaking in a new interview with Fox News Digital about why he revoked Kamal Harris’ planned editorial approval, how his staff How his staff Reacting to his changes and why he wants to appeal to Americans who don’t live in a liberal echo chamber.

Soon Shiong’s work came under attack from the left last year after the editorial he did not support the presidential candidate For the first time since 2008, Soon Shiong said he was not surprised by the backlash, which included the resignation of senior staff and the cancellation of thousands of subscriptions.

“I knew I was going to get a comeback. If you want to lead, you have to lead, so we took that position,” to Fox News Digital, soon, to Fox News.

“Competence is important“He added.” And, you know, did we feel as a group that she was a competent leader? ”

Los Angeles Times owner announces paper will soon have new editorial board, so “all voices are heard”

Soon after, Shiong said he didn’t—and still hasn’t—for Harris to see the “advance volume,” and he wasn’t aware it was written when the decision was made not to endorse the nominee.

“I was worried [the endorsement] He would actually express that she may be the most determined vice president in the history of the United States, which may be the opinion of some people, and may be laughed at by other people,” Shiong said shortly.

“I was like, ‘Look, we can’t do this. “We have to actually provide what we call a factual basis for everything we’re actually going to support,” he added. “That doesn’t mean we don’t support, but that’s not the basis for us to support.”

The decision came down just weeks before the 2024 election. Shortly after the LA Times, Gannett, the publishing giant that owns USA Today and hundreds of other newspapers, and the Washington Post also decided not to endorse the president last year. Like the Post, the LA Times only endorsed Democrats for president.

Bill Maher Mocks Novins Endorsement Upset at Wapo, LA Times: ‘It’s Charming They Think It Matters’

While the Washington Post According to Jeff Bezos won’t endorse presidential candidates moving forward, soon Shiong said the LA Times has not ruled out future presidential endorsements. He said the Times played an important role in local elections, but he did not want the paper to serve as an “echo chamber” for liberal readers.

“We really have to be informed, honest, transparent, genuine, so that when anybody reads it, there’s a basis for that approval,” he said, adding, “Somebody had to stand up and take the heat, and I. I. It’s me. It’s me. It will probably still take some heat.

Soon Shiong, an accomplished medical researcher and transplant surgeon, said he has no regrets about the decision and believes the California wildfires underscored the importance of “competent leadership.” Earlier this month he talked about X. Los Angeles Democratic Mayor Karen Bass.

“I really wanted to make sure we were a trusted source for all Americans,” Shiong said soon. “California is clearly blue, very blue. When our opinion pages were so one-sided and just opinions, I wanted to make sure everyone had a chance to voice their opinion. And more importantly, an opinion based on facts, and not on speculation.”

Conservative commentator Scott Jennings joins LA Times editorial board amid stress at paper

One of the major changes he made was bringing conservative CNN commentator Scott Jennings on the paper’s editorship, which angered Some liberal media scribesAnd he plans to bring out more moderate and conservative voices to balance out the liberal tilt of the roster.

Soon Shiong said Fox News Digital He found it sickening to see opinions about “speculative statements” written in a way that might appear as fact to the average reader. Soon after in November, Shiong wrote about the importance of sharing diverse opinions to promote media trust in the wake of President Donald Trump’s victory.

Not to say it was easy. The LA Times has not been immune to industry headwinds, laying off 115 people last year Eight-figure financial losses in 2023.

Before long, Shiong said it was a “struggle” to get staff on board with his vision of work that provides readers on both sides of the political spectrum.

“Change is hard, isn’t it? I respect that and I have empathy for that,” he said.

“I think the strength of our work will be investigative reporting and really going after the facts on the reporting side,” Shiong soon added.

Wildfire disaster proves why ‘competence’, not party, matters in electing leaders: la Times owner

It has visions to improve exit coverage by evolving as a media platform, and the LA Times has won praise for its on-the-ground reporting on the devastating wildfires that continue to affect the region.

Achieving its goal of being a trusted resource for all Americans means confronting the LA Times’ historic ideological bent.

“We were and are, if we are honest with ourselves, the editorial team and the reporting remained, the remaining side of opinion,” he said. “Now in the news sometimes opinions are sprinkled into the news and so it becomes confusing because the news is supposed to be just facts.”

Click here to get the Fox News app

“Every American was allowed to have a voice,” he added. “But there should be one set of facts. And that’s news.”

last month, His own work published an interview With him, he reported that “many times reporters and editors have rejected the idea of ​​injecting opinion into their news reporting, saying they have long worked to be impartial arbiters.”