In recent days, the decision of the Los Angeles Times not to endorse a presidential candidate this year has caused a stir, leading to the resignation of three editors from the paper. However, the owner of the paper stated that he “absolutely does not regret” this decision.
On October 23 (Wednesday), the editorial page editor of the LA Times, Mariel Garza, announced her resignation because the paper remained silent on endorsing a candidate for the presidency. Garza revealed through a retweet post that the paper’s owner, billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong, vetoed the editorial board’s plan to endorse Ha Jinli.
Garza, in an interview with Sewell Chan, the managing editor of the Columbia Journalism Review, stated that the editorial board had originally planned to support Ha Jinli, and she drafted the outline of the editorial, but it was rejected.
Garza retweeted an article from the Columbia Journalism Review and a message from Sewell Chan: “My friend Mariel Garza has just resigned from her position as the editorial page editor of the LA Times because the paper’s owner blocked the editorial board from endorsing Ha Jinli for the presidential race.”
As the largest newspaper in Ha Jinli’s hometown state, the LA Times has supported the Democratic presidential candidate in every election since Obama’s 2008 campaign.
However, Soon-Shiong clarified on X that he requested the editorial board to provide a factual analysis of the policies supported by Vice President Ha Jinli and former President Trump during their time in the White House or during the campaign period, “By providing clear and non-partisan information, our readers can decide who is qualified to be the next president.”
He said, “The editorial board did not follow this advice, but chose to remain silent, and I accept their decision.”
Garza expressed that staying silent at this time is a mistake. She is concerned that this move by the LA Times could have a negative impact on Ha Jinli’s campaign.
Trump’s campaign team has issued a statement regarding this news, stating that even Ha Jinli’s “California compatriots know she is not fit for this job.”
The “deep blue California” widely expected the paper to support Ha Jinli during the presidential election.
In September, the LA Times released its support list for the 2024 election, but there was no endorsement for a presidential candidate. The support list included candidates for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, state legislatures, state attorneys general, the Los Angeles County Superior Court, the Los Angeles Unified School District, community college districts, and the Los Angeles City Council, as well as many propositions and measures.
In her resignation letter to the LA Times editor Terry Tang, Garza wrote, “This unsupported decision undermines the integrity of the editorial board and affects every endorsement we make, including school board elections.”
On the 24th, following Garza, two more members of the editorial board at the LA Times, Robert Greene and Karin Klein, announced their resignations.
Pulitzer Prize winner Greene told the Columbia Journalism Review that he was “deeply disappointed” by Soon-Shiong’s decision not to support.
He acknowledged, “It’s the boss’s decision,” but noted that “it’s particularly hurtful because one of the candidates, Trump, has shown such hostility towards the core principles of journalism — respecting the truth and respecting democracy.”
As for his previous decision, Soon-Shiong stated that he “absolutely does not regret” it.
“In fact, I believe it was the right decision,” Soon-Shiong said in an interview with the LA Times on the 25th, “This process is about how we can truly provide the best information for our readers, and no one is better than us at filtering out facts from fiction and letting readers make their own decisions.”
Soon-Shiong also told the paper that he believes endorsing a candidate may only exacerbate the already deep partisan divide in the United States.