The death of newsprint
By 
This story . . .
“The owner of the Los Angeles Times has blocked the paper from endorsing a candidate for president this year.
Last week, the LA Times published its electoral endorsements for the 2024 election. And while the paper noted in its first line that it is “no exaggeration to say this may be the most consequential election in a generation,” that was the only mention of the presidential race in its endorsements.
The paper’s editorial board, which has endorsed Democratic candidates in every presidential race since it first endorsed then-Sen. Barack Obama in 2008, was preparing to do so once again this election.
But according to two people familiar with the situation, executive editor Terry Tang told editorial board staff earlier this month that the paper would not be endorsing a candidate in the presidential election this cycle, a decision that came from the paper’s owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, a doctor who made his fortune in the healthcare industry.
The paper did not explain its decision, though it noted at the bottom of its online endorsement page that “the editorial board endorses selectively, choosing the most consequential races in which to make recommendations.”
An LA Times spokesperson told Semafor, “We do not comment on internal discussions or decisions about editorials or endorsements.”
. . . reminded me of something I ran into recently, which was the stats on daily newspaper circulation in America. There were, as of last fall, a total of SIX daily newspapers in the USA with a circulation of more than 100,000. At 105K, the LA Times barely makes this list. There are about 12.5 million people in the LA metro area, which works out to to quite a bit less than one subscription per 100 residents, or perhaps one subscription per 40 or so households. That’s for the sixth largest paper in the country, which some random doctor was able to buy as his personal media bauble, because some random doctor was able to become a literal billionaire “in the health care industry” — which is the kind of development I suspect he doesn’t wish to be subjected to unnecessary journalistic scrutiny.
Relatedly, this list, to the extent it’s comprehensive, indicates that, two weeks before Election Day, and after more than 17 million ballots have already been cast, only 19 daily newspapers across the whole nation have offered an endorsement for president (Harris leads Trump 17-2).
I suppose a dying economic model can’t afford to alienate what few customers it has left.