The chief editorial editor of the Los Angeles Times has resigned after the paper’s owner blocked the editorial board’s plan to support Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris for president, a journalism trade publication reported Wednesday.
Mariel Garza told the Columbia Journalism Review in an interview that she resigned because the Times remained silent on the contest in “dangerous times.”
“I am resigning because I want to make it clear that I am not OK with silence,” Garza said. “In dangerous times, honest people must stand up. This is how I stand up.”
In a post on social media platform of former Republican President Donald Trump during their tenure on the board. White House.
Additionally, “the board was asked to provide (its) understanding of the policies and plans outlined by the candidates during this campaign and their potential effects on the nation over the next four years,” it said. -he writes. “In this way, with this clear, nonpartisan information, our readers could decide who would be worthy of being president for the next four years.”
Soon-Shiong, who bought the newspaper in 2018, said the board “chose to remain silent and I accepted their decision.”
Garza told the Columbia Journalism Review that the board had intended to support Harris and that she had drafted the outline of a proposed op-ed.
A spokesperson for the LA Times did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
The LA Times Guild’s Unit Council and Negotiating Committee said they were “deeply concerned about our owner’s decision to block planned support for the presidential race.”
“We are even more concerned that he unfairly blames members of the editorial board for his decision not to approve,” the guild said in a statement. “We continue to press for answers from editorial management on behalf of our members.”
Trump’s campaign pounced on Garza’s departure, saying the state’s largest newspaper refused to endorse the Democratic nominee after backing Harris in her previous races for U.S. Senate and state attorney general.
His departure comes about 10 months after then-editor Kevin Merida left the paper in what was called a “mutually agreed upon” departure. At the time, the news organization said it had not met its digital subscriber goals and needed an increase in revenue to support the newsroom and its operations digital.
