More than 20,000 people cancelled their subscription to the L.A. Times last November to protest billionaire owner Patrick Soon-Shiong and his upheaval of the Times’ editorial page. The changes, compounded with a series of tweets over the previous year, were part of a clear effort to establish allegiance to the current administration.
According to Mark Stenberg, a media reporter at Newsweek, the publisher has also lost advertising business from partners like Netflix, in part due to the changes made to the company by its billionaire owner.
Yet, President Trump has never been favorable to the press. In his first three months in office, he reconstructed the layout of the White House press room, barring access for globally accredited newsrooms like the AP while magnifying right-wing pod-casters.
“We are talking about an administration that is openly hostile to a free and independent press,” said Gabriel Kahn, a professor of Professional Practice of Journalism at USC.