The Los Angeles Times The newspaper's headquarters is shown in El Segundo, California, on January 23, 2024.

Damian Dovarganes/AP

Hide caption

Toggle label

Damian Dovarganes/AP

LOS ANGELES – The editorial editor of the Los Angeles Times has resigned after the newspaper's owner blocked the editorial board's plans to support Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris for president, a journalism trade publication reported Wednesday.

Mariel Garza told the Columbia Journalism Review in an interview that she resigned because the Just remained silent about the competition in “dangerous times”.

Los Angeles Times Editorials editor Mariel Garza poses for a portrait in 2022.

Ricardo DeAratanha/AP/Los Angeles Times

Hide caption

Toggle label

Ricardo DeAratanha/AP/Los Angeles Times

“I am resigning because I want to make it clear that I do not agree with us remaining silent,” Garza said. “In dangerous times, honest people must stand up. So I get up.”

In a post on social media platform X that did not directly mention the resignation, L.A. Times Owner Patrick Soon-Shiong said the board was asked to conduct a factual analysis of the policies of Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump during their time in the White House.

Additionally, “the board was asked to provide its understanding of the policies and plans expressed by the candidates during this campaign and their potential impact on the nation over the next four years,” he wrote. “In this way, with this clarity and bipartisan information side by side, our readers could decide who is worthy of being president for the next four years.”

Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong poses for a photo on April 13, 2018 in Los Angeles, California.

Marcus Yam/AP/Los Angeles Times

Hide caption

Toggle label

Marcus Yam/AP/Los Angeles Times

Soon-Shiong, who bought the paper in 2018, said the board “decided to remain silent and I accepted their decision.”

Garza told this Columbia Journalism Review that the board had intended to support Harris and she had drafted a proposed editorial.

A L.A. Times The spokesman did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The LA Times Guild Unit Council & Bargaining Committee said it was “deeply concerned by our owner’s decision to block a planned endorsement in the presidential campaign.”

“We are all the more concerned that he is now unfairly blaming members of the editorial board for his decision not to support him,” the guild said in a statement. “We are still pressing for answers from editorial board on behalf of our members.”

Trump's campaign gained momentum after Garza's departure, saying the state's largest newspaper had refused to support the Democratic candidacy after supporting Harris in her previous runs for U.S. Senate and attorney general.

Her exit comes about 10 months after then-editor Kevin Merida left the newspaper in what was described as an “amicable agreement.” At the time, the news organization said it had significantly missed its digital subscriber goals and needed an increase in revenue to sustain the newsroom and its digital operations.