Most news publishers stop short of producing content for an individual journalist’s accounts. “Because, as the thinking goes, what happens if that person leaves and takes all their audience with them?”
It was the first time many Americans saw Rupert Murdoch using his news outlets to advance his interests — and a lesson in how a media mogul’s outside financial ties can taint the editorial product.
Led by risk-averse corporate owners, dozens of the biggest U.S. newspapers have decided their editorials should express opinions on everything except who should be president.
But Patrick Soon-Shiong’s outside business dealings show the importance of disclosure — especially in an era when more important news organizations are owned by billionaires with business interests in the topics journalists cover.
Of the 1,800 newspapers lost since 2004, 1,700 of them were weekly papers. But it’s not because their audience disappeared — it’s because the papers did.
It is increasingly the tech stack of choice for major news publishers. But now Arc wants to be the backbone of your digital advertising and subscriptions, too.
“If the Post is like Amazon, happy to sell individual slices of its vertically integrated whole, the Times is perhaps more like Apple, bringing its ethos and voice to a more diverse array of products.”
Tronc is getting a big premium for its flagship asset, and the Times is getting a return to private, local ownership. But a lot of questions remain about where Patrick Soon-Shiong will take his new prize.
Doctor, Ken. "Newsonomics: Inside Tronc’s sale of the L.A. Times (and all the new questions to come)." Nieman Journalism Lab. Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, 7 Feb. 2018. Web. 29 Mar. 2025.
APA
Doctor, K. (2018, Feb. 7). Newsonomics: Inside Tronc’s sale of the L.A. Times (and all the new questions to come). Nieman Journalism Lab. Retrieved March 29, 2025, from https://www.niemanlab.org/2018/02/newsonomics-inside-troncs-sale-of-the-l-a-times-and-all-the-new-questions-to-come/
Chicago
Doctor, Ken. "Newsonomics: Inside Tronc’s sale of the L.A. Times (and all the new questions to come)." Nieman Journalism Lab. Last modified February 7, 2018. Accessed March 29, 2025. https://www.niemanlab.org/2018/02/newsonomics-inside-troncs-sale-of-the-l-a-times-and-all-the-new-questions-to-come/.
Wikipedia
{{cite web
| url = https://www.niemanlab.org/2018/02/newsonomics-inside-troncs-sale-of-the-l-a-times-and-all-the-new-questions-to-come/
| title = Newsonomics: Inside Tronc’s sale of the L.A. Times (and all the new questions to come)
| last = Doctor
| first = Ken
| work = [[Nieman Journalism Lab]]
| date = 7 February 2018
| accessdate = 29 March 2025
| ref = {{harvid|Doctor|2018}}
}}
