LA Times and Washington Post editorial board silenced by ownership

Jon Schleuss, President of The NewsGuild-CWA, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the decision by the owners of the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post to not publish presidential endorsements ahead of the November General Election. Schleuss also compared the difference between Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance crossing the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette picket line earlier this month and a member of the Biden-Harris administration doing something similar in 2023.

Last week, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, owner of the LA Times, told his editorial board the paper would not make an endorsement in the presidential election. Instead, he told the board to create a factual analysis of all the positive and negative policies by each candidate during their tenures at the White House, and how these policies affected the nation. The board refused the offer, and Schleuss explained the fallout, which led to the resignation of three members of the paper’s editorial board and the loss of several thousand subscribers. Schleuss was directly involved in organizing the LA Times newsroom in 2018 and discussed the critical role of these opinion writers in that successful organizing campaign. 

A similar situation arose at the Washington Post, as owner Jeff Bezos did not let the paper’s editorial board make an endorsement in the race for U.S. President. Schleuss said that nearly 10 percent of subscribers (about 250,000) canceled their subscriptions to the Washington Post following the announcement. He is concerned about the integrity of newsrooms when billionaire owners begin dictating the content their newspapers produce.

Finally, Schleuss shared his thoughts on Republican Vice Presidential nominee JD Vance crossing the picket line at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He discussed the reactions from union members and gave his opinion on the action. Schleuss then compared this situation to a similar situation in 2023 when a representative from the Biden-Harris administration crossed the picket line.

Listen to the show above to learn more about other events involving The NewsGuild.