Exposes irresponsible and slanted reporting as California homelessness crisis escalates

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has a new full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times running Thursday, November 30^th and Sunday, December 3^rd exposing the newspaper’s ongoing bias in covering the world’s largest HIV/AIDS nonprofit, especially as it insists on attacking AHF’s commitment to addressing the increasingly devastating homelessness and affordable housing crises in California.

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The ad asks why the LA Times repeatedly has omitted key information or refused to correct the record when it writes about AHF which has spent more than $178 million to purchase and renovate old, historic properties in Los Angeles alone and has given more than 1400 people a safe, stable, affordable place to live. The ad reads, in part, “Making the perfect the enemy of the good is cruel. What better solution are you offering?”

“The LA Times repeatedly writes articles critical of Skid Row housing providers. We all face the same problems: a troubled population, old buildings, and a lack of city support,” said Michael Weinstein, AHF president and cofounder. “The current housing crisis in America is a moral outrage on par with the neglect of AIDS patients at the beginning of the epidemic in the 1980s, and while AHF is stepping up to help, the LA Times insists on attacking AHF instead of reporting on the positive work we have been doing for more than 36 years to save lives in the United States and around the world.”

The full-page Open Letter To The LA Times reads as follows:

Your coverage of AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is profoundly unfair.

AHF has saved millions of lives and has led the battle against AIDS in California for 36 years.

In your most recent article, it does not say that every high-level inspector in Los Angeles has certified under oath that we are doing everything possible to give our tenants a decent place to live.

Not long ago you wrote a front-page article about our MediCal contract being cancelled by the Newsom administration. However, you neglected to write a follow-up story when that action was ruled unconstitutional by the court and the contract was reinstated.

Six homeless people die on the streets of Los Angeles every day. The 100+ year old buildings we have purchased for $178 million and spent $15.4 million operating and fixing up are the low hanging fruit to house people immediately.

Making the perfect the enemy of the good is cruel. What better solution are you offering?

You have toured our buildings multiple times and have seen our efforts to make them clean and secure. What is your agenda in attacking virtually every Skid Row housing provider?

Your articles have become fodder for the corporate real estate industry to fight our initiative for rent control. We aren't perfect and we can accept criticism, but you have gone way beyond the pale in attacking one of the largest non-profits in California while leaving the corporate landlords unscathed.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the world’s largest HIV/AIDS healthcare organization, provides cutting-edge medicine and advocacy to more than 1.9 million individuals across 45 countries, including the U.S. and in Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region, and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, visit us online at AIDShealth.org, find us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok, and subscribe to our AHFter Hours podcast.

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The Los Angeles Times repeatedly writes articles critical of Skid Row housing providers ALL facing the same problems: a troubled population, old buildings, & a lack of city support. We ask, what better solution is the L.A. Times offering or contributing?