
The 21st century has not been kind to the Los Angeles Times. After more than one hundred years of local and family ownership, the Times was sold in 2000 to an out-of-state buyer and then changed owners twice more in the next 18 years. By the time Los Angeles billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong purchased the paper in 2018, it had experienced massive circulation losses, large staff reductions and a perceptible reputational decline throughout the Southland, California and nationally.
Soon-Shiong promised to heavily invest in the paper to restore it to its former greatness, a commitment that was reinforced by his decision to hire respected veteran journalist Kevin Merida as the Times’ executive editor. While the Times had retained quality newsroom leaders such as Austin Beutner and Dean Baquet, and significant numbers of talented reporters and editors during this tumultuous period, this appeared to be the first opportunity in a long time when the combination of stable ownership, strong management and accomplished journalists could return the paper to its former levels of success.
But Merida resigned his position last week, and while the gossip about his growing estrangement from Soon-Shiong focused largely on financial losses, circulation and advertising declines, and ongoing struggles with the transition to a digital platform. But it has become clear that a primary reason for Merida’s departure was a strong disagreement of how the Times would cover the war between Israel and Hamas, and more specifically on whether reporters who had publicly criticized Israel should be allowed to cover the conflict.
Back in early November, several Times’ journalists had signed an open letter condemning Israel’s response to the Oct. 7th attacks and including references to “atrocities,” “genocide” and “apartheid.” Merida decided that Times’ employees who had signed the letter would not be permitted to cover the war for a period of three months. When Merida announced his decision, he cited the paper’s long-standing ethics policy, saying that “a fair-minded reader of the Times news coverage should not be able to discern the private opinions of those who contributed to that coverage, or to infer that the organization is promoting any agenda.”
This reflects the standards that most legacy news organizations have maintained since the early 20th century, attempting to present the news without taking sides. While many committed partisans on both sides of the political aisle can point to examples of mainstream news coverage that did present information in a biased way, most of this country’s major media outlets strive for the even-handedness reflected in Merida’s statement.
Merida did not fire the journalists who violated that policy. He did not suspend them. He did not even say that they could never cover issues relating to the Middle East or Israel again. He simply determined that for 90 days, the Times’ employees who signed a letter vilifying Israel for defending its people against a grotesque terrorist attack should not be involved in covering the conflict. Imagine the public outcry if he had made a similarly tepid decision regarding a Times staffer who was a white supremacist, a homophobe, or a serial sexual harasser.
But his boss clearly felt otherwise. While Soon-Siong denied that Merida’s decision was not the reason for his departure, he did say that he was “disappointed” that Merida had not discussed the decision with him. Meanwhile, the New York Times reported that “Some members of the Soon-Shiong family raised objections to Mr. Merida’s decision …”
(Soon-Shiong’s daughter Nika has aggressively advocated for progressive endorsements and news coverage since her father purchased the paper. Last October, she posted the following statement on Twitter: “It’s not journalistic malpractice to describe the state of Israel as an Apartheid state. This is well-established in international law.”)
I wonder – and worry – how the Soon-Shiong family will allow their newspaper to cover these issues in the future. So should you.
The war in Gaza will not end anytime soon. The tensions and violence that have roiled the Middle East for centuries will last even longer and the ugly anti-Semitism that has re-emerged with a vengeance since October 7 will last longer than that. I wonder – and worry – how the Soon-Shiong family will allow their newspaper to cover these issues in the future. So should you.
Dan Schnur is the U.S. Politics Editor for the Jewish Journal. He teaches courses in politics, communications, and leadership at UC Berkeley, USC and Pepperdine. He hosts the monthly webinar “The Dan Schnur Political Report” for the Los Angeles World Affairs Council & Town Hall. Follow Dan’s work at www.danschnurpolitics.com.