Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Journalists win ethics award for Review-Journal sale investigation

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

John Locher / AP

An exterior photo of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The news team that solved the mystery of who bought the Las Vegas Review-Journal in 2015 has received a commendation from the Society of Professional Journalists.

The SPJ bestowed one of two 2015 Ethics in Journalism Awards to a group of R-J staffers who, despite being instructed by a representative of the new owners not to question who had purchased the paper, launched an investigation and revealed in December that the Sheldon Adelson family had bought it under a company called News + Media Capital Group LLC.

“Despite obfuscation and obstacles from their new bosses, the team persevered and didn’t back down,” said a news release announcing the award.

In the release, members of the investigative team were listed as Editor Mike Hengel, Deputy Editor James Wright, Editorial Page Editor Glenn Cook, columnist John L. Smith and reporters Howard Stutz, Jennifer Robison, James DeHaven and Eric Hartley.

Except for Cook, who is now the R-J’s managing editor, all of the staff members are no longer with the news organization.

The award also goes to a former reporter for the Bristol (Conn.) Press, a News + Media property. The reporter, Steve Majerus-Collins, resigned after it was revealed that the paper had published a story sharply critical of Clark County District Court Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez, who had issued rulings adverse to Adelson’s Sands Corp. The story, parts of which were plagiarized, was published under a pseudonym byline.

The second award goes to Associated Press staff members Margie Mason, Robin McDowell and Martha Mendoza for uncovering a slave island where fish were being processed for American grocery stores and restaurants.

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