'This is not a time for balance': LA Times writer quits paper as owner seeks to bring balance to left-wing outlet

The Los Angeles Times has been undergoing a transformation. It began when owner Patrick Soon-Shiong declined to allow the Editorial Board to publish an endorsement of Kamala Harris for president, continued with the decision to appoint a new Editorial Board, and has caused the hard leftists at the paper to resign rather than engage in fair, balanced coverage of incoming President Donald Trump's administration. It was precisely this complaint that spurred columnist Harry Litman to leave the LA Times.

"I think there's no other inference," Litman told MSNBC, "but the owner of the LA Times has decided to curry favor with Trump, to move in that direction, to be, in his own words, 'fair and balanced.' And I just think this is not a time for balance when you have someone who is not telling the truth on the other side and it's a deep responsibility. And instead, I think they cowered and our worried and are worried about their personal holdings and just being threatened by Trump and that is a really shameful capitulation."

Litman, who is now listed as the "former senior legal affairs columnist for the Opinion page," is the host and creator of the Talking Feds podcast. He is also a professor of law and UCLA and UC San Diego. He has proposed that Merrick Garland-appointed special counsel Jack Smith release all of his notes in the classified documents case against Trump, though the case has been dismissed by federal Judge Aileen Cannon. The DOJ declined to prosecute President Joe Biden for making off with classified documents well before he was elected president, but that doesn't appear to concern Litman, as he believed that her ruling was "legally flawed."

He took aim at Trump's first AG pick, former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, arguing that Gaetz "confirmed the president-elect's intent to dismantle the rule of law." Litman claimed Trump would "launch a reign of terror against his enemies." He also believes that first son Hunter Biden "was singled out for an unusual indictment by special counselor David Weiss," despite his having been brought up on gun and tax felonies for which he was found guilty.

Litman isn't the only one who has stepped down amid the controversy of having a wider breadth of opinions. Editor Mariel Garza, who had proposed the Kamala Harris endorsement, also resigned, saying "I am resigning because I want to make it clear that I am not okay with us being silent," she told the Columbia Journalism Review, "In dangerous times, honest people need to stand up. This is how I'm standing up."

Soon-Shiong addressed the decision to not endorse, saying that the Editorial Board was asked to "draft 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" and "In addition, the Board was asked to provide their understanding of the policies and plans enunciated by the candidates during this campaign and its potential effect on the nation in the next four years."

The idea was to provide "clear and non-partisan information side-by-side" so that readers could decide what they thought themselves. "Instead of adopting this path as suggested," he said, "the Editorial Board chose to remain silent." Shortly thereafter, Soon-Shiong decided to create a new Editorial Board that had more diverse viewpoints reflected within it. One of the first to come aboard was Scott Jennings, a CNN analyst who goes toe-to-toe with leftist CNN pundits weekly and comes out unscathed.