Culture and Social Issues

Los Angeles Times Journalists Fume At Owner Over Plans To Implement ‘Bias Meter’ For Their Coverage

Los Angeles Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong revealed Wednesday that he intends to implement a “bias meter” in January for the publication’s news and opinion coverage, sparking backlash from his staff the following day, The New York Times reported.

Soon-Shiong said he had grown concerned that the publication had become “an echo chamber and not a trusted source” during a Wednesday appearance on CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings’ “Flyover Country” podcast. In response, the L.A. Times Guild issued a Thursday statement criticizing Soon-Shiong for implying the journalists it represents are biased, with one of its columnists resigning the same day, according to the NYT.

“We speak truth to power, regardless of which party is in power. Recently, the newspaper’s owner has publicly suggested his staff harbors bias, without offering evidence or examples,” the guild wrote. “The statements came after the owner blocked a presidential endorsement by the newspaper’s editorial board, then unfairly blamed editorial board staffers for his decision. The statements of Dr. Soon-Shiong in the press and on social media reflect his own opinions and do not shape reporting by our member-journalists.”

“Our members — and all Times staffers — abide by a strict set of ethics guidelines, which call for fairness, precision, transparency, vigilance against bias, and an earnest search to understand all sides of an issue,” it continued. “Those longstanding principles will continue guiding our work. The Guild has secured strong ethics protections for our members, including the right to withhold one’s byline, and we will firmly guard against any effort to improperly or unfairly alter our reporting.”

Los Angeles Times opinion section senior legal affairs columnist Harry Litman also announced his resignation from the outlet Thursday as a “protest” against Soon-Shiong’s “conduct” in his “Talking Feds” Substack.

“Soon-Shiong has made several moves to force the paper, over the forceful objections of his staff, into a posture more sympathetic to [President-elect] Donald Trump.”

The Los Angeles Times owner said on Jennings’ podcast that he had been developing the “bias meter” with artificial intelligence technology that he had been making for his health care businesses, according to the NYT.

“You have a bias meter so somebody could understand, as they read it, that the source of the article has some level of bias,” he said. “And what we need to do is not have what we call confirmation bias, and then that story automatically — the reader can press a button and get both sides of that exact same story based on that story, and then give comments.”

The Los Angeles Times also did not make a presidential endorsement in 2024 for the first time in two decades at the direction of Soon-Shiong, according to Semafor. The outlet’s board reportedly intended to follow tradition by endorsing the Democratic nominee for president, Vice President Kamala Harris, until Soon-Shiong told them not to make a presidential endorsement, two individuals familiar with the matter told Semafor.

Jennings recently joined the Los Angeles Times editorial board in the aftermath of senior staffers resigning over the board’s decision not to endorse Harris.

That’s why I want Scott on our new editorial board!!! Growing the board with experts who have thoughtful balanced views and new candidates are accepting the challenge to join us! Way to go Scott and thanks for accepting @latimes @ScottJenningsKY Stay tuned we are making this…

— Dr. Pat Soon-Shiong (@DrPatSoonShiong) November 26, 2024

Americans’ trust in the mass media plunged to a record low leading up to the November election, according to an October Gallup survey. Around 36% asserted that they have “no trust at all” in the mass media, while only 31% expressed a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence and 33% expressed “not very much” confidence.

The Los Angeles Times and L.A. Times Guild did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.