The Los Angeles Times will reportedly slash commentary from its left-leaning opinion writers — and staffers are said to be fuming over the owner cozying up to President Trump.
Robin Abcarian, Jackie Calmes and LZ Granderson were informed by their superiors that they are expected to publish one opinion piece per week rather than their usual two, according to a report in Oliver Darcy’s Status newsletter.
Abcarian is a veteran LA Times columnist who writes about politics, culture and social issues. Her columns have traditionally appeared in the Wednesday and Sunday editions of the paper.
Calmes’ opinion pieces normally focus on national politics and policy. Granderson’s columns explore the intersection of sports, culture and politics.
Staffers at the newspaper suspect that the move to reduce the three writers’ weekly output is a byproduct of owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong’s intent to ingratiate himself with Republicans and the the White House, according to Status.
Earlier this week, Soon-Shiong announced his intent to clean house at the LA Times by offering voluntary buyouts to staffers with over two years of tenure as well.
LA Times staffers have reportedly been furious with Soon-Shiong over a recent interview he granted to Bari Weiss’s The Free Press, in which he acknowledged having taken the “red pill” — a reference to the film “The Matrix,” which, in current context, means becoming more aligned with Republicans.
Soon-Shiong, who made his fortune in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, told The Free Press that he regretted the newspaper’s endorsement of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, the Democrat who has been widely criticized for her handling of the devastating wildfires.
The Times owner said the Bass endorsement was borne out of “confirmation bias” as well as “echo chambers” and “false assumptions” about race and politics among the newspaper’s staffers.
According to Status, Soon-Shiong’s comments “infuriated staffers inside the Times” because the mogul “opted to trash the newspaper” at a time when reporters and editors were working round-the-clock to provide coverage of the aftermath of the wildfires.
“His trashing of the newsroom at a moment when you all have done the most spectacular work is really something,” one staffer is reported to have written on the company’s internal Slack channel.
Another staffer chimed in: “The whole interview is kind of breathtaking.”
“These comments, on top of the buyout notice, are extremely disheartening,” wrote another Times employee.
The barrage of criticism apparently prompted Soon-Shiong to attempt damage control, according to Status.
On Thursday, Soon-Shiong sent a three-paragraph note to the newsroom which read: “I am so proud of your work.”
But morale at the paper remains low, according to Darcy’s report.
“People are in disbelief,” one Times staffer told Status.
“Patrick’s public comments … were bad enough, but the buyout offer — especially the timing, given how tirelessly the newsroom has been working since the wildfires began — felt tone deaf at best, and spiteful at worst.”
The Post has sought comment from the LA Times.
Soon-Shiong caused internal turmoil weeks before the Nov. 5 election after he intervened to block his editorial board from publishing an endorsement of Trump’s Democratic opponent, former Vice President Kamala Harris — a move that mimicked that of Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos.
The move angered thousands of LA Times readers — some of whom canceled their subscription. It also led to several writers quitting the newspaper’s editorial board.
He has also incorporated conservative voices into the editorial board to foster diverse perspectives.
In November, conservative commentator Scott Jennings joined the LA Times editorial board.
Jennings, a former advisor to President George W. Bush and a CNN pundit, was brought on to provide a conservative viewpoint that he argues is often underrepresented in mainstream media.
