The paper’s owner barred the Editorial Board from making an endorsement for president this year.
The Los Angeles Times will not make an endorsement in the upcoming presidential election, according to a recent report from Semafor.
According to the publication, the Times owner, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, instructed the paper’s executive editor this month that it would forgo making an endorsement in the presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
The paper has endorsed the Democratic candidate for president in every presidential election dating back to 2008, when it restarted the practice of making endorsements and endorsed then Sen. Barack Obama, who went on to win the presidency.
The Times provided no context to its decision. On September 10, the paper released an article containing all of its endorsements for the 2024 cycle, but missing was an endorsement in what most people consider to be the most important race of the year – the race for president.
The Times elected to make endorsements on a number of federal, state and local races, including Congressional races, statewide ballot questions, city and county-level races within Los Angeles, the community college district, local school district and the state legislature, among other races.
At the bottom of the article containing its endorsements for the 2024 cycle, the Times notes that its editorial board “endorses selectively, choosing the most consequential races in which to make recommendations.” The editorial board provided no further explanation for why it opted against making an endorsement in the presidential election.
Numerous news sources reached out to the Times to better understand its decision.
“We do not comment on internal discussions or decisions about editorials or endorsements,” a Times spokesperson said.
The paper’s editorial board made endorsements in presidential contests from the 1880s through 1972 before abandoning the practice. It restarted again in 2008 when it endorsed Obama.
Soon-Shiong also allegedly instructed the paper against making an endorsement in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary before eventually endorsing President Joe Biden in the general election.
Soon-Shiong purchased the Times in 2018.
