The union representing employees of the Los Angeles Times implored readers not to cancel their subscriptions after criticizing the owner for his role in the paper’s controversial decision not to offer a presidential endorsement this year.
Semafor first reported the non-endorsement Tuesday, saying the decision came from the paper’s owner, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong. L.A. Times editorials editor Mariel Garza, who resigned the next day over the issue, also pinned the blame on the owner.
However, Soon-Shiong claimed on X Wednesday that it was the Times editorial board that chose not to offer an endorsement, not him, and he had accepted their decision.
The guild that represents many L.A. Times employees, after criticizing company leadership, asked readers not to abandon the publication that pays their salaries.
The L.A. Times appears to be experiencing inner turmoil over the paper not endorsing either presidential candidate.
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“We know many loyal readers are angry, upset or confused, and some are canceling their subscriptions. Before you hit the ‘cancel’ button: That subscription underwrites the salaries of hundreds of journalists in our newsroom,” the Los Angeles Times Guild Unit Council wrote in a Thursday social media post. “Our member-journalists work every day to keep readers informed during these tumultuous times. A healthy democracy is an informed democracy.”
The guild’s statement went on, “We remain deeply concerned about The Times’ owner’s decision to block a planned endorsement, and his statement that unfairly shifts blame onto editorial board members. We are pressing for answers.”
The open letter concluded, “Meanwhile, our members continue doing their jobs: covering city hall, interviewing sources, investigating local corruption and putting out a newspaper every day. We are proud of our members as they do this essential work.”
Harris and Trump continue to run a very tight race (Getty Images)
The message came after the guild posted a statement on X Wednesday saying it was “deeply concerned” about the owner allegedly blocking the Harris endorsement and “unfairly assigning blame to Editorial Board members for his decision not to endorse.”
Several users replied to the post saying they were canceling their Times subscriptions, apparently prompting the guild to ask readers not to, for the sake of their salaries, the next day.
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In her letter of resignation, Garza wrote she was “struggling” with the “implications” of the paper staying silent on the presidential race.
“It makes us look craven and hypocritical, maybe even a bit sexist and racist. How could we spend eight years railing against Trump and the danger his leadership poses to the country and then fail to endorse the perfectly decent Democrat challenger—who we previously endorsed for the US Senate?” she wrote.
She continued, “The non-endorsement undermines the integrity of the editorial board and every single endorsement we make, down to school board races. People will justifiably wonder if each endorsement was a decision made by a group of journalists after extensive research and discussion, or through decree by the owner.”
The L.A. Times editorial board issued presidential endorsements from the 1880s through 1972, only returning to the practice to endorse then-Sen. Obama in 2008. Since then, they have exclusively endorsed Democratic presidential candidates.
It has also been reported that Soon-Shiong, who bought that paper in 2018, previously overruled the editorial board in 2020 after it had planned to endorse Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the Democratic primary. It endorsed President Biden in the general.
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Fox News Digital reached out to the L.A. Times for a statement.
Fox News’ Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.