By Place Holder
The owner of the Los Angeles Times, Patrick Soon-Shiong plans to introduce “bias meter” to monitor newsroom production.
, has announced plans for incorporating an AI “bias meter” into its coverage by its reporters and writers.
Soon-Shiong is a biotech billionaire who bought the LA Times in 2018. He made these comments on a podcast hosted by the conservative commentator Scott Jennings, who is due to join the LA Times editorial board.
The move is the latest controversy to hit the Los Angeles Ties, which has seen a wave of resignations and layoffs under Soon-Shiong’s ownership. Most recently, Soon-Shiong blocked the paper from endorsing Democrat Kamala Harris in last month’s presidential election-a move that rankled many staff members.
The “bias meter”, Soon-Shiong said, would be incorporated into articles so that “somebody could understand, as they read it, that the source of the article has some level of bias”.
“And what we need to do is not have what we call confirmation bias, and then that story automatically, the reader can press a button and get both sides of that exact same story based on that story and then give comments,” he added.
Soon-Shiong told Jennings that he had been “quietly building” the AI tool “behind the scenes” and expressed his hope to launch it by early next year.
In a statement, Jennings said that he looked forward to represent those Americans who believe they are often ignored or even ridiculed in legacy media and applaud Dr Soon-Shiong’s move to bring balance to the editorial boar.
Soon-Shiong has been under fire lately after it was reported he blocked the LA Times editorial board from endorsing Kamala Harris for president.
