LA Times Executive Editor Concedes Failure ‘Addressing Concerns of People of Color in the Newsroom’
Paper has a “long, well-documented history of fueling the racism and cruelty that accompanied our city’s becoming a metropolis,” Norman Pearlstine writes
Lindsey Ellefson | June 6, 2020 @ 2:10 PM
Last Updated: June 6, 2020 @ 2:49 PM
Getty
In a Friday email to Los Angeles Times executive editor Norman Pearlstine acknowledged failure in “addressing concerns of people of color in the newsroom” and vowed to “do better.”
While the memo obtained by TheWrap heralded Times reporters and their work covering the unrest in the wake of the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, it also went on to point out the history the newspaper has with “fueling the racism.”
“The Los Angeles Times has a long, well-documented history of fueling the racism and cruelty that accompanied our city’s becoming a metropolis,” Pearlstine wrote in the memo first flagged by The LA Podcast Friday. “This publication fomented the hysteria that led to Japanese American incarceration, the Zoot Suit Riots, redlining and racial covenants, and it turned a blind eye to generations of police abuses against minority communities. At its worst, our coverage didn’t simply ignore people of color — it actively dehumanized them.”
He continued: “More recently, we can be faulted for focusing on a white subscriber base even as the city became majority non-white. Our paper’s history of addressing the concerns of people of color in the newsroom has been equally checkered. Our failures have caused pain for staff past and present.”
The responsibility to fight racism outside of the institution and within it lies with the staff, he wrote, but ultimately with him. He then outlined steps the company is taking and will continue to take to that end, including ongoing discussions with staffers, the forthcoming publication of staff diversity numbers that will become an annual disclosure and the possible implementation of unconscious bias training.
The Times will also “create new procedures and mechanisms to ensure that candidates are properly vetted and always treated with respect and courtesy,” as well as work to develop better systems of soliciting input prior to story publications.
“We shall update you a month from today on our progress on the points above,” he wrote before asking staffers to send in any of their own suggestions.
Read the memo in its entirety below:
George Floyd Remembered at Minneapolis Memorial Service (Photos)
A memorial service was held for George Floyd in Minneapolis Thursday, ten days after a police officer killed him by using his knee to choke him for more than 8 minutes, while other officers standing by mocked his pleas for help.
All four former Minneapolis police officers involved in the fatal arrest have been charged. Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes, faces second-degree murder charges. The three other officers are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder.
Thursday's memorial at North Central University is the first of several; services will also be held in North Carolina and Texas.
Rev. Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy in front of attendees which included the Floyd family, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Reps. Ilhan Omar, Sheila Jackson-Lee and Ayana Pressley, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Martin Luther King III and more.
Photo credit: Getty Images
George Floyd's hearse arrives at North Central University for the first of several memorial services. In the upper right, Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo and Sgt. Dave O'Connor kneel as the hearse drives by.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Floyd's memorial service was streamed on television and online.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Reverend Al Sharpton arrives at George Floyd's memorial service. Sharpton and other mourners wore face masks given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The NAN logo stands for the National Action Network the civil rights organization Sharpton founded in 1991.
Photo credit: Getty Images
George Floyd's casket is prepared before the service. The image in the background is the mural drawn near the sidewalk where he was killed. NAN banners flank the artwork.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Floyd's family stand in solidarity during the service.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Shareeduh Tate, cousin of George Floyd, is held by Brandon Floyd, nephew of George Floyd, as those gathered paused silently for eight minutes and 46 seconds -- the length of time Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Actress Tiffany Haddish weeps during the moment of silence. Other celebrities in attendance were T.I., Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, Kevin Hart and Marsai Martin.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Brandon and Philonise Floyd, brothers of George Floyd embrace while listening to Shareeduh Tate speak. The Floyds wore pins emblazoned with "I Can't Breathe" -- their brother's final words.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Pallbearers wheel out George Floyd's golden casket following the service.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Media and on-lookers watch as George Floyd's casket is loaded into a hearse. His body will be transported to his hometown of Raeford, North Carolina, where a private family service will be held on Saturday. A public service will be held Monday in Houston, Texas -- two weeks after his death.
Photo credit: Getty Images
1 of 11
Rev. Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy for Floyd, who was killed in police custody on Memorial Day
A memorial service was held for George Floyd in Minneapolis Thursday, ten days after a police officer killed him by using his knee to choke him for more than 8 minutes, while other officers standing by mocked his pleas for help.
All four former Minneapolis police officers involved in the fatal arrest have been charged. Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes, faces second-degree murder charges. The three other officers are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder.
Thursday's memorial at North Central University is the first of several; services will also be held in North Carolina and Texas.
Rev. Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy in front of attendees which included the Floyd family, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Reps. Ilhan Omar, Sheila Jackson-Lee and Ayana Pressley, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Martin Luther King III and more.