Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Media critic: Questions about R-J sale to Adelson still linger

Las Vegas Review-Journal Owner: Paper sold for $140 million

John Locher / AP

An exterior photo of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

A media critic who closely followed the sale of the Las Vegas Review-Journal to casino magnate Sheldon Adelson told an audience at UNLV that the community should press the R-J's ownership and staff for answers about Adelson's motives for the purchase and his plans for the paper.

Jay Rosen, a New York University associate journalism professor and media blogger, posed 20 lingering questions about the sale, which he called a "civic disaster." Among them: Why did Adelson pay nearly three times the market value for the paper, why did he initially keep his interest secret and why was former R-J columnist John L. Smith barred from writing about Adelson and Steve Wynn?

Rosen didn't offer answers, saying that while there were plausible explanations, "the point is that the people involved don't have the decency to answer these questions."

The R-J was sold in late-2015 amid an odd series of events that included a Connecticut publisher who represented the then-unidentified owners instructing the R-J's news staffers not to concern themselves with trying to get details on the new ownership. Later, it was revealed that the publisher — apparently under an assumed name — printed a lengthy story that was highly critical of Clark County District Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez, who had made rulings unfavorable to Adelson's company Las Vegas Sands Corp.

Adelson's connection to the sale was revealed by the R-J's staff, which won several awards for breaking the story. But as Rosen pointed out, all of the reporting staff members who were involved in the story have left the paper.

"In newspaper journalism, when you win awards that's generally a good thing," he said. "The loss of such people is a huge loss of institutional knowledge."

Rosen suggested the ownership arrangement raised questions about whether the newspaper is objectively covering Las Vegas Sands and community issues in which Adelson and his company have a stake.

"What's the agenda? We don't know," he said.

J. Keith Moyer, who became the newspaper's editor after the purchase, has said he received an assurance from Adelson that the billionaire would not involve himself in decisions over news coverage.

It has been revealed that R-J newsroom protocol calls for Moyer and R-J Managing Editor Glenn Cook to review any stories involving Adelson and his family.

In his presentation Tuesday, which was sponsored by the Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and Media Studies and the Las Vegas chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, Rosen said he had been told that material had been inserted in stories about Adelson without being revealed to the reporters and editors who had produced the stories.

"That's highly unusual," he said.

Rosen's presentation was followed by a question-and-answer period. No one from the R-J spoke on behalf of the paper.

Asked for his suggestions on how the community should react to the ownership issue, Rosen said local residents should demand that the R-J follow up on a commitment it made recently to hire a community editor or ombudsman to respond to questions about news coverage and potential conflicts of interest. He also suggested asking news staffers to answer questions and appear at community events.

"It's important not to let these events drift into the background," he said.

The Las Vegas Sun is published and distributed under a joint operating agreement with the R-J. The Sun receives a portion of the R-J’s revenue under the agreement, which is regulated by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy