Billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times says he will take the newspaper public in the coming year

In the Los Angeles Times, you no longer have to take an opinion columnist's word for it.

Newspaper owners across the country have been ditching presidential endorsements, figuring they shouldn't alienate readers with something most of them don't care about.

Two more members of the Los Angeles Times editorial board have resigned after the newspaper’s owner blocked its plan to endorse Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris for president.

The Washington Post says it won't endorse a candidate for president in this year’s tightly contested race and would avoid doing so in the future.

Guild members of the Los Angeles Times have participated in a one-day walkout to protest imminent layoffs.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has opened a new vaccine manufacturing facility that he says will boost the country’s capacity to make its own inoculations for diseases including COVID-19.

Shareholders of Tribune Publishing, one of the country’s largest newspaper chains, approved a takeover bid by hedge fund Alden Global Capital on Friday.

A group of alternative bidders is emerging, in late March 2021, for newspaper chain Tribune Publishing, which had agreed to a $630 million deal with hedge fund Alden Global Capital. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)A group of alternative bidders is emerging for newspaper chain Tribune Publishing, which had agreed to a $630 million acquisition by hedge fund Alden Global Capital. The Times reported that both would commit up to $100 million to the $650 million bid. The unions at Tribune papers have pushed for alternative buyers for the company’s papers. Gregory Pratt, a Chicago Tribune reporter and the head of the paper's guild, said they are “heartened” by Wyss' interest.

FILE - In this April 12, 2006, file photo, flags wave near the Chicago Tribune Tower in downtown Chicago. Newspaper publisher Tribune has agreed to be sold to Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund known for cutting costs and eliminating newsroom jobs, in a deal valued at $630 billion. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)CHICAGO – The newspaper publisher Tribune has agreed to be sold to Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund known for cutting costs and eliminating newsroom jobs, in a deal valued at $630 million. Alden became Tribune Publishing’s largest shareholder in 2019; it holds a 32% stake. AdThe success of the Tribune deal hinges on securing the votes of biotech billionaire and Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, who owns about 24% of Tribune Publishing, and shareholder Mason Slaine, a former media executive who owns about 8%, according to the Chicago Tribune.

LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles Times Executive Editor Norman Pearlstine has stepped down after two and a half years heading a newspaper roiled by management shakeups, a drop in revenue and questions about its commitment to newsroom diversity. Pearlstine announced in October that he planned to retire but would stay on to help with the search for a new top editor. The Times’ owner and executive chairman Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong wrote Monday in a note to staff that Pearlstine was no longer overseeing the newsroom and had shifted to an advisory role, the newspaper reported. The paper recently hired a search firm to manage the process to find a new executive editor, which is expected to take several months, the Times said. I also recognize it’s the right time to find a successor — an editor who embodies the qualities needed to continue the Times’ revival.”

PASADENA, Calif. - A secretive startup backed by Bill Gates has achieved a solar breakthrough aimed at saving the planet. The breakthrough means that, for the first time, concentrated solar energy can be used to create the extreme heat required to make cement, steel, glass and other industrial processes. Unlike traditional solar power, which uses rooftop panels to capture the energy from the sun, Heliogen is improving on what's known as concentrated solar power. "I'm pleased to have been an early backer of Bill Gross's novel solar concentration technology," Gates said in a statement. Heliogen said it would solve that issue by relying on storage systems that can hold the solar energy for rainy days.