In the aftermath of President-elect Donald Trump’s landslide win, legacy media outlet the Los Angeles Times appears to be making a frantic effort to realign with voters.
On Wednesday, the Times’ owner, Dr. Pat Soon-Shiong, announced that the newspaper would replace its editorial board.
‘Putting lipstick on a pig.’
In a statement on X, Soon-Shiong wrote, “When the President has won the vote of the majority of Americans then ALL voices must be heard. Opinions are just that.”
“I will work towards making our paper and media fair and balanced so that all voices are heard and we can respectfully exchange every American’s view,” he added, emphasizing that diverse perspectives would include opinions “from left to right to the center.”
“Coming soon,” Soon-Shiong wrote. “A new Editorial Board. Trust in media is critical for a strong democracy.”
Over recent years, the editorial section of the L.A. Times has frequently published articles that clearly demonstrate its left-leaning bias.
The Times issued an opinion piece in 2021 written by columnist Erika D. Smith, titled, “Larry Elder is the Black face of white supremacy. You’ve been warned.” The following year, the newspaper released an op-ed by business columnist Michael Hiltzik titled, “Mocking anti-vaxxers’ COVID deaths is ghoulish, yes — but may be necessary.“
Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin noted that the L.A. Times published article after article “endorsing soft on crime [Los Angeles District Attorney] DA George Gascon, who just got blown out by over 20 points in his re-election bid.”
Police analyst and Townhall columnist Phil Holloway responded on X to the news that the L.A. Times plans to replace its editorial board.
Holloway wrote, “Here in the south we call this ‘putting lipstick on a pig.’”
“They can change the editorial board all they want, but until they abandon ‘advocacy journalism‘ — which is a euphemism for propaganda — they will remain a newspaper worthy only of lining birdcages,” Holloway added.
Leading into the election, Soon-Shiong faced significant pushback after he refused to allow the newspaper to endorse Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris. Since 2008, the Times has backed every Democratic presidential candidate.
Following the non-endorsement decision, the newspaper faced a wave of resignations, including three editorial board members.
Then-editorials editor Mariel Garza stated at the time, “I am resigning because I want to make it clear that I am not okay with us being silent.”
“In dangerous times, honest people need to stand up. This is how I’m standing up,” Garza added.
Soon-Shiong explained, “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.”
“Instead of adopting this path as suggested, the Editorial Board chose to remain silent and I accepted their decision,” he said.
The Los Angeles Times Guild Unit Council and Bargaining Committee accused Soon-Shiong of “unfairly assigning blame to Editorial Board members for his decision not to endorse.”
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