The daughter of the Los Angeles Times' proprietor alleged that an endorsement for Harris was impeded due to her backing of the Gaza conflict.
Nika Soon-Shiong, a 31-year-old activist known for controversially influencing the newspaper's coverage, shared with The New York Times that she and her father decided not to back Harris in the presidential race. She explained, "Our family decided together not to support any Presidential candidate. This is the first and only time I've been involved in such a decision. As a resident of a nation openly funding genocide and as a family that experienced South African Apartheid, endorsing a candidate provided an opportunity to challenge justifications for journalistic targeting and the ongoing conflict against children."
Patrick Soon-Shiong, the billionaire doctor who acquired the LA Times for $500 million in 2018, later disagreed with her comments, confirming that she had no involvement in the decision. He stated, "Nika expresses her personal viewpoints, just like any other community member is entitled to. She holds no position at the LA Times and does not participate in decision-making or discussions with the editorial board, as has been consistently clarified."
A representative for Nika Soon-Shiong declined to provide a statement in response to the request.
The announcement came shortly after Patrick Soon-Shiong unexpectedly thwarted plans to endorse Harris. The LA Times has endorsed candidates in every presidential election since supporting Barack Obama in 2008.
This decision sparked uproar within the newspaper, leading numerous subscribers to cancel their subscriptions. Three members of the Times' editorial board resigned as a result of Soon-Shiong's decision. Mariel Garza, the head of the newspaper's editorial board, who resigned earlier this week, told The New York Times that she was not given a reason for refusing to endorse Harris.
"If Dr. Soon-Shiong's reasoning for blocking the endorsement of Kamala Harris was indeed the reason, it was not communicated to me or the other editorial writers," Garza stated. "If the family's goal was to denounce justifications for targeting journalists and the ongoing struggle against children, silence did not achieve this objective."
Garza reiterated her viewpoint, "If the family's goal was to denounce justifications for targeting journalists and the ongoing struggle against children, silence did not achieve this objective."
The following day, Nika Soon-Shiong weighed in on the "controversy and confusion" surrounding the LA Times' decision not to endorse a presidential candidate in a social media post, asserting, "Genocide is the boundary I won't cross."
"This is not a vote for Donald Trump," she wrote. "This is a refusal to endorse a candidate responsible for the war on children. I am proud of the LA Times' decision and confident that there is no such thing as 'children of darkness.' There is no such thing as human beings devoid of empathy."
In an interview with Spectrum News 1 SoCal this week, Patrick Soon-Shiong proposed that the editorial board be given the chance to discuss policy differences between Harris and Trump instead of endorsing a candidate.
"My concern is that if we endorsed either [candidate], it would further fuel division," Soon-Shiong explained.
"I desire for us to hear all perspectives, both on the opinion and op-ed pages," he added. "I'm unsure how readers perceive me or my family as 'ultra-progressive' or not, but I consider myself an independent."
The LA Times is not the only newspaper to reconsider its endorsement precedents at the last minute.
On Friday, The Washington Post announced that it would not endorse any candidate in this or future presidential elections. As with the LA Times, the decision was initiated by the publisher's billionaire owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, according to the newspaper's report.
The Post has also faced criticism for its sudden about-face.
"To make a show of moral principle this close to the election is highly questionable. It's not believable that this was based on principle at this point," Marty Baron, the Post's former executive editor, told CNN's Michael Smerconish on Saturday.
The LA Times' decision not to endorse a presidential candidate sparked discussions within the media industry, with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the billionaire owner of The Washington Post, also choosing to withhold an endorsement for this election. In a business context, these decisions could influence the perception of newspaper publications as being impartial or swayed by political leanings.
