Newsonomics: What's Holding Up Patrick Soon-Shiong's L.A. Times Closing?
In Los Angeles, Soon-Shiong had been expected to close his close-to-$600 million deal for the Los Angeles Times and San Diego Union-Tribune by now. That expectation had been set by Tronc itself and others involved in the agreement.
Sources say that the deal will soon close and that it’s been held up due to the nitty-gritty of a transition services agreement that has stalled final signatures.
In short, Soon-Shiong wants to emerge from the signing as independent of Michael Ferro and Tronc as he can. As he told staff about the company’s planned major move to a modern, built-for-digital media office park, he wants to establish the Times as a new, revitalized independent voice.
First published at Harvard’s Nieman Journalism Lab on April 24, 2018
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It will be a massive transition away from Tronc’s technology, affecting ad, circulation, content, financial, human resources, and other platforms. Almost all of Tronc’s top executives go with the mothership.
Soon-Shiong continues to meet confidentially with a number of the news industry’s top change agents. These publishers share what has worked for them and what hasn’t. It’s still unclear whether he’ll act as his own publisher, but he understands what a big statement his hiring of the Times’ next editor will make.
Could the Times rocket from digital laggard to the national news elite, as Jeff Bezos has made possible with the Washington Post? It’s possible, with a lot of lost (Tribune Publishing, Tronc) time to make up. Stealing away a top editor would make that statement — and could be the first step in attracting a new generation of talent to LA. I understand that one such candidate has rejected the advances, and as we move toward closing, the announcement of that job, Soon-Shiong well understands, will define the first stage of his tenure.
