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Our LAT investigation: Exec editor Norm Pearlstine (backed by billionaire owner Patrick Soon-Shiong) stabilized the paper post-Tronc. He also overlooked or dismissed serious concerns from staff about toxic management, diversity in hiring, & ethical issues. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/v7g34y/what-went-wrong-at-the-los-angeles-times
A former deputy managing editor retired to "tend to family" shortly after the LA Times investigated allegations of inappropriate treatment of and relationships with women, as well as toxic management.
LA Times leadership, including Pearlstine, was warned about the problems with the Metpro program (overseen until recently by Tracy Boucher) which was supposed to train and support young journalists of color.
Former Metpro reporter Michael Livingston, one of 12 who spoke to VICE, said that the very program that was supposed to help him thrive did the opposite. He was mistaken for another Black man in the program, felt isolated, and eventually left journalism altogether.
Pearlstine waved away questions about who paid how much for a sports department party held at Santa Anita racetrack in 2018 and was unaware of some issues regarding sports columnist Arash Markazi, who wrote a column in April that was nearly identical to a press release.
In February, Pearlstine yelled at a reporter for asking questions about his coverage of tech company Huawei ("My asshole is clean.") He remained mystified by and defensive of VICE's questions about a potential conflict of interest as well.
In late June, Pearlstine was reflective and apologetic in a 4+ hour Zoom call with editorial staff.
Yet after the town hall, he wrongly accused a reporter of delivering an anonymous letter to Soon-Shiong. The letter requested a nationwide search for Pearlstine's replacement.
As we were publishing the story, food editor Peter Meehan resigned. Earlier this week, numerous allegations were made on Twitter about his management and conduct. https://twitter.com/tammieetc/status/1277601084618543105 https://twitter.com/pfmpfmpfm/status/1278384855609421827?s=20
After the story was published, Patrick Soon-Shiong sent the following email to staff to "address some of the recent critical stories that have been written about the L.A. Times."
Thank you to everyone who spoke to us for the story. If you have any feedback or tips about this story, or want to share information about any other company in the world, please DM me or @maxwellstrachan or @timmarchman. You can also email me securely at [email protected]
