Recent episodes involving major U.S. news organizations have stoked fears that outlets are preemptively self-censoring coverage that could offend former President Donald Trump, who remains neck-and-neck in the polls with Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of Election Day.
“One of the central media stories in the U.S. right now is the people who run big media companies making accommodations for a second Trump presidency and thinking about how to avoid antagonizing him,” Ben Smith, editor-in-chief and co-founder of the news site Semafor, tells NPR.
L.A. Times editor resigns after owner blocks endorsement of Harris
Semafor’s Max Tani first broke the news that the owner of the Los Angeles Times, Patrick Soon-Shiong, intervened to block the publication of an editorial endorsing Harris. The Trump campaign swiftly shared the Semafor story with supporters.
The L.A. Times’ editorials editor Mariel Garza resigned, saying Soon-Shiong’s decision made the paper look “craven and hypocritical.” The newspaper has endorsed Harris, a Californian who lives in Los Angeles, for public office before; the paper’s editorial pages have routinely condemned Trump’s character, policies and record.
Last month, in endorsing state and local candidates, the L.A. Times editorial page said voters would confront “the most consequential election in a generation” — though, it added, it was “not just talking about the presidential race.”
Publishers and owners have the right to weigh in on endorsements, of course, and often do so. This time, Soon-Shiong says he wanted something different.
On the social media platform X, formerly Twitter,…
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