Dear Dr. Soon-Shiong and Ms. Tang:
As journalists, we work hard every day to maintain trust with our readers.
Transparency is central to that trust: we show our work, highlight what we know and don’t know, and attribute our sources so that readers can decide. The Times has undermined that trust with its handling of the non-endorsement and the reaction that followed.
Those of us who work in the newsroom, rather than on the Editorial Board, do not have a position on whether a presidential endorsement should have been made. However, we all expect The Times to be transparent with readers. We also expect that our journalists be permitted to thoroughly cover the news of this city — including when it occurs at this newspaper — and do their jobs without fear of being blamed for their employer’s decisions.
The controversy over the decision not to endorse a presidential candidate, and the subsequent resignations of three Editorial Board members, has been documented by the New York Times, Semafor and many others. The L.A.Times, in contrast, has not published a single story as of Friday morning.
The Times has also not explained to its readers or staff why it issued no endorsement in the presidential race. Whether the newspaper endorses a candidate is ultimately the owner's prerogative. However, the process must be clear and transparent to readers.
Our newspaper’s owner publicly blamed the members of the Editorial Board for his decision not to endorse, saying incorrectly that “they chose to remain silent.” They did not. They planned an endorsement — one that was rejected. The owner’s action unnecessarily made Editorial Board members vulnerable to harassment, impacting their ability to effectively perform their jobs.
We believe The Times must take the following steps to restore trust:
Thoroughly cover this story so that readers fully understand what transpired.
Provide readers with an explanation for not issuing an endorsement, along with clarity about the broader endorsement process.
Correct the record to make clear that the Editorial Board wanted to write an endorsement and did not choose to remain silent.
Our ethics policy clearly states: “Credibility, a news organization’s most precious asset, is arduously acquired and easily squandered. It can be maintained only if each of us accepts responsibility for it.” We are acting upon that responsibility.
We look forward to working with you to restore trust with our readers so we can all get back to the job at hand.
Signed,
Jose Mancia
Paloma Esquivel
Alex Wigglesworth
Matt Hamilton
Jaclyn Cosgrove
James Queally
Adam Tschorn
Ross May
Phil Willon
Jessica Garrison
Sonja Sharp
Bill Shaikin
Hugo Martin
Tony Barboza
Mackenzie Mays
Rebecca Ellis
Dania Maxwell
Jenny Jarvie
Anita Chabria
Robert Gauthier
Tracy Brown
Melissa Gómez
Andrew Khouri
Jason Armond
Christi Carras
Gabrielle LaMarr LeMee
Karen Garcia
Elsie Ramos
Salvador Hernandez
Dan Woike
Patrick Hruby
Eduardo Gonzalez
Nathan Solis
Thomas Curwen
Andrew J. Campa
Jim Buzinski
Maret Orliss
Ryan Kartje
Steve Lopez
Amy Kaufman
Jackie Calmes
Josh Rottenberg
Steven Eames
Cindy Carcamo
Brittny Mejia
Andrea Castillo
Mary Kate Metivier
Hayley Smith
Hannah Wiley
Kevinisha Walker
Jeanette Marantos
Noah Goldberg
Terry Castleman
Sean Greene
Andrew Turner
Jireh Deng
Lisa Horowitz
Samantha Masunaga
Glenn Whipp
Keri Blakinger
Tony Briscoe
Lila Seidman
Sammy Roth
Eduard Cauich
Selene Rivera
Connor Sheets
Faith E. Pinho
Kevin Leung
Laura Nelson
Michael Hiltzik
Jad El Reda
Jack Dolan
Carolyn Cole
Grace Toohey
Daniel Miller
Liam Dillon
Tracy Wilkinson
Nicole Vas
An Amlotte
Seema Mehta
Yvonne Villarreal
Jevon Phillips
Stacy Perman
Deborah Vankin
Vanessa Martínez
Rebecca Plevin
Dakota Smith
Alene Tchekmedyian
Kailyn Brown
Stephen Battaglio
Soudi Jiménez
Christie D’Zurilla
Nick Leyva
Nicholas Ducassi
Elsa Luna
David Bowman
Emily Alpert Reyes
Suhauna Hussain
August Brown
Lorraine Ali
Susanne Rust
Thuc Nhi Nguyen
Laura King
Ian James
Stephanie Breijo
Bill Addison
Jenn Harris
Alexander Horvath
Gabriel San Roman
David Carrillo Penaloza
Lisa Boone
Rubaina Azhar
Elena Gooray
Libor Jany
Colleen Shalby
Jeff Amlotte
Nardine Saad
Gregory Diaz
Sara Cardine
Meredith Blake
Sonaiya Kelley
Julia Wick
Ashley Lee
Luke Money
Micah Fluellen
Vanessa Franko
Don Ragland
Charles McNulty
Javier Calle
Christopher Reynolds
Kate Sequeira
Marisa Gerber
Jenny Gold
Lee Rogers
Dwayne Rogers
Corinne Purtill
Alexandra Del Rosario
Hailey Branson-Potts
Kevin Crust
Valerie Hood
Nathan Fenno
Mark Z Barabak
Danielle Dorsey
Defne Karabatur
Gustavo Arellano
Jeffrey Fleishman
Gerard Lim
Christian Orozco
Albert Lee
Paul Ybarrondo
David Viramontes
Mikael Wood
Christopher Knight
Todd Martens
Carla Hall
Jerome Adamstein
Judy Pryor
David Wharton
Sandhya Kambhampati
Paul Thornton
Hannah Fry
Carlos Santana
Howard Blume
Ben Bolch
Sarah Mosqueda
Mark Olsen
Genaro Molina
Robin Abcarian
Kevin Rector
Gina Ferazzi
Teresa Watanabe
Robert Lloyd
Christina House
Kevin Ueda
Brian van der Brug
Katrina Ten
Mary McNamara
Doug Norwood
Minh Dang
Greg Braxton
Ruben Vives
Ryan Fonseca
Richard Winton
Deborah Netburn
Carlos Lozano
Myung Chun
Laurence Darmiento
Melody Petersen
Rachel Dunn
Roger Vincent
Phi Do
Alison Dingeldein
David Zahniser
Ben Poston
Ananya Thyagarajan
Melody Gutierrez
Raul Roa
Marina Levario
Jessica Gelt
Doug Smith
Andre Vergara
Parisa Hajizadeh-Amini