LA Times columnist resigns, accuses newspaper owner of ‘disgraceful stalking’ of Trump
Former Los Angeles Times columnist Harry Litman announced his resignation this week, accusing the paper’s owner of “appeasing” President-elect Donald Trump.
Appearing on MSNBC Thursday, Litman told the network’s anchor Nicolle Wallace that the Los Angeles Times had abdicated its responsibility to address Trump’s threat to democracy by deciding to be neutral under owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong.
“I think they are afraid and worried about their own capture and just being threatened by Trump. And that is a really shameful capture, I think. So, I feel that I will not be part of it and I had to stop,” Litman. he said to the air, adding to his objections to a recent Substack article.
Soon-Shiong, the billionaire businessman and physician who bought the Times in 2018, caused an uproar among liberals — including employees of his store — when he announced in September that the paper would not endorse the president in the 2024 election.
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Former LA Times columnist Harry Litman said he resigned from the agency because he refused to directly oppose President-elect Trump.
The paper’s editorial board has endorsed every Democratic presidential candidate since 2008 and planned to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris. However, Soon-Shiong stressed that he wants the Times to use an “unbiased” method of covering the election this year.
The decision sparked a backlash from staff, which led to three members of the editorial board resigning in protest. Since then, Soon-Shiong has doubled down on this commitment to impartiality, pledging to establish a “new editorial board” that he said will foster student trust in the media.
Giving evidence of this change, CNN analyst Scott Jennings accepted a position on the editorial board last month. Commenting on the owner’s new idea, he wrote to X, “I think Dr. Soon-Shiong is doing something important and sad and I am honored that he asked me to participate in that.”
Litman became the latest Los Angeles Times employee to quit, citing what he called the owner’s “Trump compliance” at MSNBC.
Wallace asked him about his decision to resign, and he replied, “The papers have such an important role to play now and in this country. Trump has taken the political stage, maybe the Supreme Court, and now he’s going after the FBI, maybe the military, and, in fact, they’re one of the few agencies that can’t stand up and back down.” “
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Los Angeles Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong made the decision in October that his paper would not endorse a candidate for the 2024 presidential election. (Marcus Yam / Contributor)
“And it’s very much in their tradition, and Trump has made it clear that he’s going after them. And that’s, you know, a five-alarm fire,” he added.
The columnist, a former U.S. Attorney appointed by President Bill Clinton, announced on his Substack page Thursday that he had “written my last report for the Times” and “resigned from my position” the day before.
“I don’t want to continue working for a paper that pleases Trump and helps his attacks on democracy for unpopular reasons,” he added in the article.
He continued to tell Wallace, “And I think this is not a time of balance when you have someone who is not telling the truth on the other side. And it is a deep responsibility. And instead, I think they are afraid and worried about their own person. being held and threatened by Trump.”
In addition to the new editorial board, Soon-Shiong recently announced that his paper is looking to release an AI-powered “bias meter” in the near future.
During an episode of the “Mike Gallagher Show,” Soon-Shiong told Jennings, who was hosting the guest, “Whether it’s news or an opinion – maybe an opinion or words – you have a bias meter so that someone can understand as they read. that the source of the article has some degree of bias.” “
President-elect Donald Trump at the Fox Nation Patriot Awards. (Fox Nation)
The owner expressed his hope that the meter will start working in January.
The Los Angeles Times did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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