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In tonight’s edition, L.A. Times staff who tuned into The Daily Show last night were shocked to hear owner Patrick Soon-Shiong’s announcement that he plans on taking the newspaper public in 2026. Breaker checked in with the newsroom for their reaction, we also learned the nightly L.A. Times Today has been axed, while L.A. Times Studios is the source of complaints by journalists.

Also tonight, lawyers for Fox News have written to California Governor Gavin Newsom demanding he drop his $787 million defamation lawsuit against the network following an on-air correction.

Plus, The Washington Post changes course on its “third newsroom” initiative as Breaker learns of more veteran journalists who are expected to take the buyout. 

Finally, tonight, Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie is back with ‘Hamish’s Hot Sauce’ – his weekly thoughts on the media landscape. Tonight, his take on Paramount’s decision to axe Colbert.

Mentioned tonight: Todd Boehly, Katie Drummond, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Tina Brown, Rupert Murdoch, Bari Weiss, Dennis Berman, Jesse Watters, Terry Tang, Anna Magzanyan, Chris Argentieri, Lisa McRee, Megyn Kelly, Sean Spicer, Mark Halperin, Krissah Thompson, Matt Murray, Suzi Watford, Samantha Henig, Monica Norton, Lori Montgomery, and Will Lewis.

(Exclusive.) On Tuesday morning, fresh off an appearance on The Daily Show, L.A. Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong was spotted by a Breaker spywitness at The New York Stock Exchange. 

It’s no coincidence that Soon-Shiong, who, after talking to Jon Stewart about nude mice, curing cancer, and toxic side effects of chemotherapy, announced that he is taking his battered and bruised paper public next year, would head straight to Wall Street.

But for L.A. Times staffers who were blindsided by the development, they no doubt would have preferred Soon-Shiong made an appearance in the newsroom to explain exactly what his plan is.

“This is indicative of the fly-by-night nature of how this paper is being run,” one L.A. Times journalist told us. 

Soon-Shiong’s announcement (as an aside to a question that wasn’t asked) on a late-night comedy show was the latest bizarre move in his seven-year ownership of the paper.

He said going public would allow The Times “to be democratized and allow the public to have ownership of this paper,” but was vague on details, and Stewart failed to ask him any follow-up questions. 

There had been rumors in recent weeks that Soon-Shiong was in talks to sell the L.A. Times to Eldridge Industries co-founder Todd Boehly, who is also the co-owner of Chelsea Football Club. But when we asked Boehly on Tuesday if he had had discussions, he responded by saying…