Tensions are rising between the LA Times and its billionaire owner. The ownership family faces accusations of meddling in the newsroom's coverage, along with intense turmoil within the ranks.
This past May, a young reporter for the Los Angeles Times working a weekend shift filed a 190-word story about people suspected of stealing expensive watches before fleeing in a black Rolls-Royce.
In conversations with POLITICO, more than three dozen current and former staffers said that the paper experienced growing pains relating to its novice billionaire owner. Soon-Shiong, the wealthy pharmaceutical executive, has tried to bring an era of revitalization and reinvestment to the Times. But his stewardship has also witnessed internal discord and concerns over priorities.
The Times is one of the country’s most historic and formidable journalism institutions, with digital subscriptions growing by more than 360 percent since the Soon-Shiongs purchased it in 2018, according to a representative for the newspaper. It is regularly praised for its coverage on issues of climate change, politics and culture, having scored at least one Pulitzer Prize each year under its new ownership.
Patrick Soon-Shiong, the wealthy pharmaceutical executive, has tried to bring an era of revitalization and reinvestment to the Times. But his stewardship has also witnessed internal discord and concerns over priorities. | Danny Moloshok/AP Photothe Los Angeles Times, the newspaper had been languishing for years, struggling to compete with better-funded national outlets while under the stewardship of the Tribune Company.
Times company leaders at the time asked then-top opinion editor Sewell Chan to brainstorm ways that Nika Soon-Shiong could get more involved in the paper. He talked with her about whether working with the opinion section would be a possibility. that said her father was thinking of selling the paper. But she dismissed the “suggestion that I control the editorial decisions of the paper, which are made by independent and experienced journalists based on their own judgment.” She did not, she stressed, “have a formal role in the LA Times.”
There were internal grumbles after the paper endorsed Democratic West Hollywood Council member Lindsey Horvath for the powerful LA County Board of Supervisors. Horvath had a close relationship with Nika Soon-Shiong —publicly and said attacks on her were “rooted in racism” — and helped appoint her to the public safety commission.
“People are just scratching their heads about their editorial board and how they can come to these decisions,” Koretz told POLITICO. “I have never seen an election where the newspaper is the story.”to leave Los Angeles to pursue a doctorate at Oxford University, questions persist over where the line should be drawn—if at all—between the Soon-Shiong family’s interests and the editorial product of the Times.
In a statement, Bass campaign spokesperson Sarah Leonard Sheahan said the congresswoman was highlighting “an empty hospital right here in Los Angeles she believes can be used to safely and compassionately house mentally ill homeless Angelenos.”Rep. Karen Bass announced her plan to combat homelessness at an abandoned building that housed the old St. Vincent Medical Center, which is owned by Patrick Soon-Shiong.
“As owners of the Los Angeles Times, the Soon-Shiongs have the prerogative to make decisions about all aspects of the organization,” said Hillary Manning, vice president of communications at the paper. “One decision they made and have been vocal about since the time the acquisition was announced is that maintaining an independent newsroom is vitally important to them, to the L.A. Times itself and to the community as a whole.
That has been particularly true during Covid. Several Times employees said Soon-Shiong has been distracted since the start of the pandemic. In private, he indicated to the former executive that he’d become “obsessed” with Covid and to another person it would be diverting his attention.
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