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.
The billionaire owner on unions (“I think they did the unionize thing out of desperation”), esports (“We must start fighting for the 16-year-olds all the way to the 30-year-olds, because that’s not our demographic”), and hiring the intern.
It’s a few years behind its East Coast brethren in New York and Washington. But tens of millions in new investment and ambitious digital plans are showing a path back to its former prominence — and beyond.
One’s a family-controlled, century-plus-old newspaper chain, known for believing in its civic mission but not for its digital strategy. The other is, well, Tronc. With an assist from L.A.’s richest man, could this be a path forward?
Rupert Murdoch owning the New York Daily News? A McCormick controlling the Chicago Tribune again? The L.A. Times pulling a Washington Post, aiming to run the industry’s underlying infrastructure? A lot of change is coming soon.
Doctor, Ken. "Newsonomics: It looks like Tronc is about to be chopped up and sold for parts." Nieman Journalism Lab. Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, 29 Aug. 2018. Web. 28 May. 2023.
APA
Doctor, K. (2018, Aug. 29). Newsonomics: It looks like Tronc is about to be chopped up and sold for parts. Nieman Journalism Lab. Retrieved May 28, 2023, from https://www.niemanlab.org/2018/08/newsonomics-it-looks-like-tronc-is-about-to-be-chopped-up-and-sold-for-parts/
Chicago
Doctor, Ken. "Newsonomics: It looks like Tronc is about to be chopped up and sold for parts." Nieman Journalism Lab. Last modified August 29, 2018. Accessed May 28, 2023. https://www.niemanlab.org/2018/08/newsonomics-it-looks-like-tronc-is-about-to-be-chopped-up-and-sold-for-parts/.
Wikipedia
{{cite web
| url = https://www.niemanlab.org/2018/08/newsonomics-it-looks-like-tronc-is-about-to-be-chopped-up-and-sold-for-parts/
| title = Newsonomics: It looks like Tronc is about to be chopped up and sold for parts
| last = Doctor
| first = Ken
| work = [[Nieman Journalism Lab]]
| date = 29 August 2018
| accessdate = 28 May 2023
| ref = {{harvid|Doctor|2018}}
}}