The top editor at The Los Angeles Times reportedly reassured worried staff Friday after the outlet’s billionaire owner vowed to take the paper in a new direction to ensure “all voices are heard.”
L.A. Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong said that he wanted to redo the “entire” paper, after promising earlier in the week there would be a “new editorial board.”
“If it’s news, it should just be the facts, period,” Soon-Shiong explained to “Fox News @ Night” host Trace Gallagher Thursday. “And if it’s an opinion, that’s maybe an opinion of the news, and that’s what I call now a voice. And so, we want voices from all sides to be heard, and we want the news to be just the facts.”
L.A. Times executive editor Terry Tang reportedly emailed staff after the interview aired to address “concerns” about Soon-Shiong’s remarks.
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“Patrick has expressed his full support and confidence in me and the editorial leaders to run the news report as we have. The LA Times newsroom has always strived for factual accuracy, dogged accountability journalism, and comprehensive news coverage, and that principle and practice will not change,” she wrote, according to a message shared by New York Times’ media reporter Ben Mullins.
“Patrick’s interest, as he has expressed in interviews, is to have a greater variety of views represented in the Opinion section and more clearly label for our readers the difference between a news piece and an opinion piece. In the coming weeks, there will be more to share on how the newspaper can accomplish this,” Tang’s email continued.
The editor ended her email promising there would be staff meetings to address the new protocols in the coming weeks.
Soon-Shiong ignited uproar from the paper’s liberal staff in October after he said there would be no endorsement of a candidate in the 2024 presidential race. The paper’s editorial board has endorsed every Democratic presidential candidate since 2008 and had planned to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris.
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The decision sparked backlash from staff, prompting three editorial board members to resign in protest.
Soon-Shiong pledged over the weekend that the paper will have a “new editorial board” in order to promote “trust” in the media in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s resounding victory.
“When the President has won the vote of the majority of Americans then ALL voices must be heard. Opinions are just that. I will work towards making our paper and media fair and balanced so that all voices are heard and we can respectfully exchange every American’s view ..from left to right to the center. Coming soon. A new Editorial Board. Trust in media is critical for a strong democracy,” Soon-Shiong posted to X on Sunday.
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He reiterated on Fox News that he wanted the paper to be more than an “echo chamber.”
“And so, it’s going to be risky and difficult. I’m going to take a lot of heat, which I already am, but you know, I come from the position that really it’s important for all voices to be heard,” he told FNC’s Gallagher.
Fox News Digital reached out to the L.A. Times and Tang for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Fox News’ Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.
