Our former L.A. Times colleague Josh Gohlke invited Mariel Garza and me to talk recently about the tumultuous final days of our tenure at the newspaper's opinion section, the launch of Golden State and the future of journalism in California as corporate owners retreat from spirited civic debate and independent publications pick up the slack.
We all got to know each other under the worst of circumstances. After L.A. Times owner (and Los Angeles' richest resident) Patrick Soon-Shiong prevented the newspaper from endorsing Kamala Harris in October 2024, Garza resigned as editorials editor. Gohlke, then an op-ed editor, filled in for Garza to oversee the editorial board, which saw additional resignations after her departure. Gohlke and I both left the L.A. Times four months after Garza when it became clear that Soon-Shiong was going to continue to denigrate the opinion staff and meddle in editorial decisions.
We also talked about the current media landscape in Los Angeles, and how the deep cuts to the L.A. Times newsroom, especially in the once-robust Opinion section, left a void that the Rupert Murdoch-owned California Post is eager to exploit. Watch or listen to the whole conversation for some firsthand insight into media self-censorship, the rise of independent, nonprofit journalism and more.
