The LA Times' editorial leader steps down following the media proprietor's objection to endorsing Harris
"I'm stepping down due to the need to express my disagreement with our silence," Mariel Garza shared with the Columbia Journalism Review during an interview. "In challenging periods, upright individuals should stand firm. This is my way of standing up."
Garza's departure comes following Patrick Soon-Shiong, the billionaire physician who bought the publication in 2018 for $500 million, advising the Times' editorial board against endorsing in the presidential race, according to her. The newspaper has backed a candidate in every presidential election since supporting Barack Obama in 2008.
As California's most popular newspaper and one of the nation's largest, the Times' decision not to endorse a presidential candidate raised concerns about possible political manipulation. Garza informed CJR that the editorial board had planned to endorse Harris, who previously served as a U.S. Senator from California and the state's attorney general.
"I didn't think we'd sway our readers' opinions—the majority of our readers are Harris supporters," Garza told CJR. "We're a highly liberal newspaper. I didn't think we'd change the election outcome in California."
A Los Angeles Times representative did not respond to CNN's request for comment, but in a social media post, Soon-Shiong wrote, "The Editorial Board was offered the chance to draft an unbiased analysis of every candidate's policies since they served in the White House, and how these policies impacted the nation."
"Instead of pursuing this course of action, the Editorial Board opted to remain silent, and I respect their decision," Soon-Shiong added.
Garza's resignation took place a month after the Times published its electoral endorsements for the November election, which did not include the presidential race.
"This is a moment where you voice your convictions regardless of the consequences," Garza told CJR. "An endorsement was the next logical step after a series of editorials we've penned about how threatening Trump is to democracy, his unsuitability for the presidency, and his threats against his opponents."
"It's puzzling to readers, and potentially concerning, that we didn't endorse her this time," Garza told CJR.
The Times' decision not to endorse was initially reported Tuesday by Semafor. The Trump campaign promptly exploited the information, depicting it as a "devastating blow" for Harris, suggesting that "even her fellow Californians recognize she's not up for the job."
In her resignation letter to Terry Tang, the Times' executive editor, Garza wrote about her internal conflict over the implications of the silence.
"I told myself that presidential endorsements don't have much weight; that California never would vote for Trump," she wrote. "But the truth hit me like a cold shower on Tuesday when the news broke about the decision not to endorse without even a comment from the LAT management, and Donald Trump turned it into an anti-Harris campaign."
"In these critical times, being mute isn't just apathy, it's complicity," Garza concluded. "I'm taking a stand by stepping down from the editorial board. I offer this as my official resignation, effective immediately."
The Los Angeles Times' decision not to endorse a presidential candidate in the electoral endorsements was met with criticism and was seen as an opportunity for political manipulation by some. Garza, expressing her dissatisfaction with this decision, stated that an endorsement was the next logical step after their critical editorials about Trump's unsuitability for the presidency.
Garza's resignation from the Times' editorial board was in response to the business decision not to endorse a presidential candidate, a move she believed amounted to complacency in these critical times.
