Conservative CNN political commentator Scott Jennings confirmed through a post on social media Friday that he is joining the Los Angeles Times editorial board.
The move comes as the newspaper’s owner, Patrick Soon-Shiong, vowed to do a complete overhaul of the outlet ensuring that a clear distinction exists between reporting and editorials. Jennings became a contributing columnist for the Los Angeles Times in 2019. He joined CNN as a contributor in 2017 and was an aide to former President George W. Bush.
“I’ve written columns for the paper over the last few years and was honored to do so under such a storied and important masthead,” Jennings wrote on X. “I love newspapers and believe in strong journalism and strong opinion pages that represent a wide array of views.”
Jennings continued, “I approach my commentary jobs by starting with the truth and then providing my honest opinion based on my conservative values and experience. I think Dr Soon-Shiong is doing something important and groundbreaking and am honored he asked me to play a role in that.”
In his post, Jennings wrote he plans to represent “those Americans who believe they are often ignored or even ridiculed in legacy media,” and applauded Soon-Shiong’s move to “bring balance to the editorial board.”
Jennings posted his announcement as a reply to a previous post by Soon-Shiong on Tuesday in which he floated the idea of the conservative commentator joining the newspaper’s editorial board.
“That’s why I want Scott on our new editorial board!!!,” Soon-Shiong wrote. “Growing the board with experts who have thoughtful balanced views and new candidates are accepting the challenge to join us! Way to go Scott and thanks for accepting @latimes @ScottJenningsKY Stay tuned we are making this happen.”
Prior to that, Soon-Shiong said on Fox News that he wanted the paper to include diverse points of view.
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“If it’s news, it should just be the facts, period,” Soon-Shiong said. “And if it’s an opinion, that’s maybe an opinion of the news, and that’s what I call now a voice. And so, we want voices from all sides to be heard, and we want the news to be just the facts.”
Notably, the Los Angeles Times was one of several prominent papers that did not endorse a presidential candidate in the 2024 race. The last time the paper did not endorse a candidate was in 2008.
