“Craven…hypocritical…sexist…racist,”

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LAT Editor Blasts Paper’s Non-Endorsement Of Harris In Resignation Letter.

In these dangerous times, staying silent isn’t just indifference, it is complicity. I’m standing up by stepping down from the editorial board.” — Mariel Garza, LA Times Editorials Editor Resignation Letter

LA Times billionaire owner Pat Soon-Shiong — a friend of Donald Trump’s biggest donor, Elon Musk — censored the Times editorial board’s endorsement of Kamala Harris, and editorials editor Mariel Garza resigned in response on Oct. 23, after the Trump campaign predictably used the non-endorsement decision to attack Harris, claiming it proved that “Even her fellow Californians know she’s not up for the job.”

At first, Garza had been “struggling with my feelings about the implications of our silence,” rationalizing that it made no difference in a state that would never vote for Trump.” But the reality hit me like cold water” once the news spread. “Donald Trump turned it into an anti-Harris rip,” she wrote in her resignation letter.

“Of course, it matters that the largest newspaper in the state — and one of the largest in the nation still — declined to endorse in a race this important. And it matters that we won’t even be straight with people about it,” she went to say.

“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?”

The damage wasn’t just to Harris and possibly the nation in this one election, she went on to say.

“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.”

Soon-Shiong tried to clean up the mess but only made things worse with a dishonest blame-shifting narrative posted on Musk’s website.

“Let me clarify how this [non-endorsement] decision came about,” but what followed didn’t match what was already known, as reported by Sewell Chan (a former LAT opinion page editor) for the Columbia Journalism Review, who first reported Garza’s letter after interviewing her.

According to Chan:

On October 11, Patrick Soon-Shiong, who bought the newspaper for $500 million in 2018, informed the paper’s editorial board that the Times would not be making an endorsement for president. The message was conveyed to Garza by Terry Tang, the paper’s editor.

The board had intended to endorse Harris, Garza told me, and she had drafted the outline of a proposed editorial. She had hoped to get feedback on the outline and was taken aback upon being told that the newspaper would not take a position.

This last-minute censorship of the board’s decision echoed a similar scenario in the 2020 primary, when Soon-Shiong censored the board’s endorsement of Elizabeth Warren in a similar last-minute move. But his “clarification” makes no mention of any of that. In his alternate universe, he was just a passive voice innocent bystander. It was all the Editorial Board’s fault. Here’s what he says happened:

The Editorial Board was provided the opportunity to draft a factual analysis of all the POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE policies by EACH candidate during their tenures at the White House, and how these policies affected the nation. In addition, the Board was asked to provide their understanding of the policies and plans enunciated by the candidates during this campaign and its potential effect on the nation in the next four years. In this way, with this clear and non-partisan information side-by-side, our readers could decide who would be worthy of being President for the next four years. Instead of adopting this path as suggested, the Editorial Board chose to remain silent and I accepted their decision.

Not so fast, said the newspaper guild. The Los Angeles Times Guild Unit Council and Bargaining Committee issued a statement saying:

We are deeply concerned about our owner’s decision to block a planned endorsement in the presidential race. We are even more concerned that he is now unfairly assigning blame to Editorial Board members for his decision not to endorse. We are still pressing for answers from newsroom management on behalf of our members. The Los Angeles Times Guild stand with our members who have always worked diligently to protect the integrity of our newsroom.

While it’s impossible to know what motivated Soon-Shiong, his friendship with Musk can’t be ignored.

“Makes sense,” Musk posted in response. Musk has given $75 million to America PAC, which does swing-state voter turnout for the Trump campaign, according to the latest filings with the Federal Election Commission. He’s also the most influential spreader of misleading and false election information. So it makes sense that he’d say Soon-Shiong’s fake history makes sense.

But there’s another wrinkle to consider. In the early days of the Trump administration in Jan 2017, STAT News reported that Soon-Shiong had “been in talks with the Trump administration about the possibility of serving in a senior role overseeing the US health care system.” In the end, nothing came of that. But he could well be interested in that again, and Trump has pledged to give Musk a key administration role, should he return to the White House.

In sharp contrast to all this murkiness, Garza’s letter was crystal clear in its conclusion:

Seven years ago, the editorial board wrote this in its series about Donald Trump “Our Dishonest President”: “Men and women of conscience can no longer withhold judgment. Trump’s erratic nature and his impulsive, demagogic style endanger us all.”

I still believe that’s true.

In these dangerous times, staying silent isn’t just indifference, it is complicity. I’m standing up by stepping down from the editorial board. Please accept this as my formal resignation, effective immediately.

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