Mastodawn

Han Solo Mio Oct 24, 2024

LA Times owner seems to be in league with Trump, vetoing a Harris endorsement and then letting the campaign use standard-issue lies to smear the paper for something it didn't do.

The editorial page editor quit in protest and she deserves our respect.

She has more courage than the vast majority of our political press corps, which still normalizes Trump and will be culpable if he -- and then Vance -- become America's fascist rulers.

https://www.cjr.org/business_of_news/los-angeles-times-editorials-editor-resigns-after-owner-blocks-presidential-endorsement.php

Los Angeles Times editorials editor resigns after owner blocks presidential endorsement

Mariel Garza, the editorials editor of the Los Angeles Times, resigned on Wednesday, after the newspaper’s owner had blocked the editorial board’s plans to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for president. “I am resigning because I want to make it clear that I am not okay with us being silent,” Garza told me in a […]

Columbia Journalism Review

FinchHaven infosec Oct 23, 2024

Interesting

Wondered if there was a backstory here

Remember roughly when [he] bought the LA Times (the paper of record for my entire youth) and kinda went "hmm..." for some reason

Another rich guy, snapping up news media

AI6YR Ben Oct 23, 2024

@FinchHaven @dangillmor I think a bit of this might be financial relationships/pressures applied here. Soon-Shiong's businesses are very closely tied to the investment community (he runs in the same circles as Vance and Musk --- one degree separation, as it were). The question is if it was applied pressure or it was his sense of "don't piss off colleagues".

Delric Oct 24, 2024

@ai6yr @FinchHaven @dangillmor yes, and?

AI6YR Ben Oct 24, 2024

@FinchHaven @dangillmor Also, being in this community as well (as an observer), it's likely that Musk and Soon-Shiong are very well acquainted due to their South African roots and both being billionaires/investors in LA (Musk less so now, but in prior years)

SMH Oct 24, 2024

@dangillmor Is the author sure about this? "He’s a decent and thoughtful person”. Sounds like he is serving his own best interest and not his readers’.

CynBlogger ❌👑Oct 24, 2024

@dangillmor
Good for her!

J.H.Noyes Oct 24, 2024

Patrick Soon-Shiong understands that every non-abortive SARS-CoV-2 infection establishes a lifelong viral burden. Regardless of whether or not you continue to be symptomatic, the virus is still replicating inside of you and adversely affecting your health--it is destroying your cardiovascular system, immune system, and all organs including the kidneys, pancreas, and brain. Refusing to endorse politicians that have encouraged spread is the only moral choice for a physician to make.

troy_friz_zell Oct 24, 2024

@noyes @dangillmor

So concerned he'll help a fascist win.

It's touching how concerned he is.

J.H.Noyes Oct 24, 2024

Watch this. It's a two minute interview with Soon-Shiong regarding Covid-19. He clearly understands the existential threat posed by even a single infection. This is likely why he won't allow his paper to endorse Harris:

https://youtu.be/UIvTFG2MCfM?si=w4Ay6vbqZX3d_lmm

Beyond the Cough: COVID-19's Unseen Scars - Viral Persistence, Organs at Risk & Weakened Immunity

YouTube

GrnLakeRunnr Oct 24, 2024

@dangillmor Agreed!!

mickymorse Oct 24, 2024

@dangillmor Major media is full-on maga. They cannot be trusted . Impartial journalism is as dead as the gop. They have violated whatever trust and ethics they had to back a fascist and criminal cabal.

Linda Sgoluppi Artist Oct 24, 2024

@[email protected] would be great if this backfired spectacularly on the owners of the LATimes!

#Fediverse #Mastodon #LosAngelesTimes

Pat Oct 25, 2024

@lindasgoluppiart By every conceivable measure, it was a stupid--and arrogant--move to block the editorial endorsement of Harris.

Dzeep Oct 24, 2024

Just cancelled my LA Times subscription. I'm not taking any shit from this pathetic owner, Patrick Soon-Shiong. He can take this cancellation and shove it up his you know what

llewelly Oct 24, 2024

@dangillmor
how amazing that the same news industry that shilled for fossil fuel companies from 1990 to the present turns out to be owned by fascists. I'm shocked, I tell you, shocked.