By Dan Kennedy • The press, politics, technology, culture and other passions

Las Vegas editor out as details emerge about judge story

Sheldon Adelson in 2010 (photo via Wikipedia)

Sheldon Adelson in 2010 (photo via Wikipedia)

The editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the paper that was recently purchased in secret by casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, has resigned, The New York Times reports. Michael Hengel “described his decision to leave as ‘mutual’ and said he did not believe he was forced out,” according to a brief item in the Review-Journal.

In an editorial posted Tuesday night, the “new owners”—Adelson is not mentioned by name—pledge to invest in the paper and “to publish a newspaper that is fair, unbiased and accurate.” The paper’s archive of recent tough articles and editorials about the new ownership appears to be intact, including this blockbuster about a judge who had angered Adelson.

According to the story, Review-Journal reporters were ordered to scrutinize Nevada county judge Elizabeth Gonzalez during the weeks leading up to the sale of the paper, a period when Adelson’s interest was not known. Later, a lengthy story that was critical of the judge appeared in Connecticut’s New Britain Herald, a tiny daily owned by Michael Schroeder, a business associate of Adelson’s and a former top executive at BostonNOW, a now-defunct free tabloid.

If you just can’t get enough, Matthew Kauffman has a fascinating story in today’s Hartford Courant. Among other things, several people quoted in the New Britain Herald article say they were never contacted, and the reporter whose byline appears on the article may or may not actually exist.

Timothy Pratt has a good overview of the whole situation at the Columbia Journalism Review. He quotes me, and yes, we did talk.

Frankly, I think a lot of us have been expecting either mass firings or mass resignations. We’ll have to see what kind of newspaper owner Adelson proves to be—although, as I told Pratt, he is not off to a good start. The Review-Journal staff, on the other hand, has proven itself to be enterprising and courageous in the face of a serious threat to the paper’s independence and integrity.

Update: Josh Nathan-Kazis of the Forward reports that “Adelson’s family foundation is the largest single funder behind JNS.org, a Jewish news service that serves a growing number of American Jewish news organizations.”

JNS’s publisher is Russel Pergament, a former Real Paper advertising and circulation executive and the founder of BostonNOW.

Previous coverage:

Previous

Why the liberal media love to torment liberals

Next

Boston magazine editor Carly Carioli steps down

3 Comments

  1. Andre Mayer

    I see why you cited his other roles, but by many I’m sure Pergament is best remembered for the Tab.

    • Dan Kennedy

      @Andre: Yes, I wrote about that in one of those earlier links.

  2. Larry Anderson

    Las Vegas Review-Journal points to Michael Schroeder as reporter “Edward Clarkin”:
    http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/mystery-surrounds-writers-name

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén