Businessman Patrick Soon-Shiong opted against endorsing Kamala Harris, leading to the resignation of the Los Angeles Times' Editorial Chief.
On October 24, 2024, the Los Angeles Times announced that it would not be issuing an endorsement for president in the upcoming election. This decision has caused a stir, with some seeing it as a departure from the paper's tradition of backing Democratic candidates since 2008.
At the heart of the controversy is Mariel Garza, the former head of the Los Angeles Times' editorial board, who resigned following the decision. In her resignation letter, published in full by the Columbia Journalism Review, Garza expressed concern about the paper's decision not to endorse in the 2024 presidential race.
Garza, who joined the paper's editorial board in 2015 and was appointed editorials editor in April, questioned how the Los Angeles Times could spend eight years criticizing the leadership of former President Trump and then fail to endorse the Democratic challenger, whom they previously endorsed for the U.S. Senate. She also mentioned that the decision might be perceived as sexist and racist due to the paper's past criticism of Trump.
Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, the owner of the Los Angeles Times, has defended the decision, stating that the editorial board had not followed through on a directive to draft a factual analysis of all the positive and negative policies by each candidate during their tenures at the White House. Shiong believes that with this clear and non-partisan information side-by-side, readers could decide who would be worthy of being President for the next four years.
The Los Angeles Times Guild, the union representing the paper's employees, has expressed concern about Shiong's decision on the endorsement and his subsequent unfair assignment of blame to Editorial Board members for his decision not to endorse. The Guild has called for transparency and for the paper to explain to readers why it is not issuing an endorsement.
John Doe replaced Mariel Garza as the head of the Los Angeles Times' Editorial Board after her resignation. Terry Tang, the executive editor of The Los Angeles Times, previously served as an editor at The New York Times for 20 years. Tang has not commented publicly on the decision not to endorse.
Semafor first reported that the Los Angeles Times was skipping this year's presidential endorsement, making this the first time the paper has not endorsed a candidate since 2008. The paper has not provided any further information about the candidate they might have been considering for an endorsement.
The decision not to endorse and the lack of transparency about it has led to accusations of cravenness and hypocrisy from Garza and others. She stated that the decision makes the newspaper look craven and hypocritical, especially considering its past criticism of Trump's leadership.
The Los Angeles Times has not yet responded to these accusations, but the decision not to endorse in the 2024 presidential race has certainly sparked a lively debate within the journalism community and among readers.
