L.A. Times Editorial Board member who resigned gives a very strong message to voters. [View all]

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/10/27/opinion/los-angeles-times-endorsement-kamala-harris-soon-shiong/

*snip*

I don’t expect we will ever get an honest answer to what motivated the owners of these two papers to kill the Harris endorsements (the conflicting and disingenuous excuses later issued by Soon-Shiong and his daughter aside). I fear that it comes down to money. I have served on editorial boards for more than 20 years and, in my experience, when publishers intervene in endorsements it is usually for financial reasons. And both have substantial business interests that could suffer under a vengeful Trump administration.

Many newspapers have opted to stop making presidential endorsements, usually in fear of losing readers. That’s fine; there’s a case to be made that endorsements and editorial boards are anachronisms. But making that change just days before the election isn’t an honest move toward neutrality. It is a statement in itself.

If there’s any bright side to this shameful moment, it’s that the owners of these two newspapers inadvertently illustrated the perils of a second Trump term in stronger terms than we could have done in any endorsement (or the five-part series we planned to complement the Harris endorsement, which was also spiked).

If two of the wealthiest men in the world are so cowed by a Trump presidency that they would muzzle their journalists and damage two storied news organizations rather than use their considerable resources to prevent it, every voter should rush in horror to the nearest polling center on Nov. 5.

* * * *