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The paper’s owner said he wanted to more clearly demarcate stories that are news and those that are opinion. And, as far as hiring: “I’m looking for people like [CNN’s] Scott Jennings.”
By Katie Kilkenny
Labor & Media Reporter
Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong detailed his plan to move his publication towards sharing “the views of all” in an appearance on Fox News on Thursday night.
The owner and billionaire biotech entrepreneur expressed the view on Fox News @ Night that the Times, which he purchased in 2018, had not recently demarcated which stories were news and which were opinion. “We’ve conflated news and opinion,” Soon-Shiong said in the appearance. “So, the first thing I want to do is ensure that we explicit say ‘This is news.’ And if it’s news, it should just be the facts, period. And if it’s an opinion, that’s maybe an opinion of the news and that’s what I call now a ‘voice.’”
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He added, “We want voices from all sides to be heard.”
During the segment, senior national correspondent William La Jeunesse argued that “the paper has really drifted kind of to the left for several years, and it’s not just in the editorial section but in the news pages as well.” When Fox News @ Night anchor Trace Gallagher asked how Soon-Shiong would win back the trust of conservative readers, Soon-Shiong said it was the paper’s responsibility to “maintain democracy” and to represent “the views of all” California and national readers. “Because if we just have the one side, it becomes nothing else but an echo chamber,” he said. “And so, it’s going to be risky and difficult. I’m going to take a lot of heat which I’m already am.”
The appearance on Fox News @ Night comes after Soon-Shiong tweeted on Nov. 10 that he would be establishing a new editorial board following internal controversy over the paper’s last-minute decision to withhold a presidential endorsement during the 2024 election cycle. Three editorial board members resigned after the mandate, including Karin Klein, who wrote in The Hollywood Reporter that Soon-Shiong “blocked our voice,” as the board had been preparing to endorse Democratic candidate Kamala Harris before the decision.
“If Soon-Shiong had decided early last spring that he no longer wanted to endorse on presidential races, that would have been fair, neutral and legitimate,” Klein wrote. “But by making the decision at the 11th hour, when the candidates are in place, polls are tight and almost anything can throw the race one way or the other, Soon-Shiong’s anti-editorial stance is actually a de facto decision to do an editorial — a wordless one, a make-believe-it’s-invisible one that unfairly implies grievous faults in Harris that put her on a level with Donald Trump.”
When asked how he would compose the new editorial board during his Fox News interview, Soon-Shiong said “I’m looking for people like Scott Jennings” — a CNN commentator who offers a conservative perspective. He added, “We need views from both sides. And my goal is not to change that entire editorial board for that perspective.”
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