TAMPERING

L.A. Times’ Billionaire Owner Blocks Paper’s Planned Endorsement in Presidential Race

It’s the second instance of reported meddling by the billionaire doctor.

The Los Angeles Times won‘t endorse a candidate in this year’s presidential election—per its billionaire owner‘s request, according to Semafor. Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong ordered the paper‘s editorial board—which has solely endorsed Democratic candidates since it resumed making presidential endorsements in 2008—not to endorse a presidential candidate this year despite its plans to do so, executive editor Terry Tang told the staff earlier this month. It‘s why in the paper’s lengthy endorsement list last week, which noted how this year’s election was “the most consequential election in a generation” and separately made reference to Kamala Harris' infamous “coconut tree” remark, no presidential candidate was found. It is the second instance of reported meddling by Soon-Shiong in the paper‘s affairs in the last year. In January, executive editor Kevin Merida resigned after Soon-Shiong tried to block a story that accused one of his friends’ dogs of biting a woman in a Los Angeles park. Soon-Shiong, a doctor who made his fortune in biotechnology and associated himself with Donald Trump during his first presidency, denied the accusation. The paper declined to comment. “We do not comment on internal discussions or decisions about editorials or endorsements,” it said.