Adelson bought a paper expecting to solidify his position in Las
Vegas.
What he didn't expect was that its journalists would find out…
“Oh my. The end (again) of journalism in The Age of Adelson.” Jon Ralston
Actions have consequences. And now that casino magnate and Republican cabal/
Rubio donor Sheldon Adelson, Chairman and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands, has purchased a newspaper, the
Las Vegas Review-Journal for a cool $140 million, expect some big ones. The move was a shady, if barely-disguised,
power play by one of the lunatic fringe’s big movers and shakers.
Money talks. Especially Adelson’s
$24.5 billion. And buys things. Not only the means of reporting words. But
what words are reported. But you already knew that, because Fox News.
Like those other captains of industry, the Kochs, Adelson seems to
think capitalism is the fleecing of the people wrongly granted political
power by the Constitution. The Constitution would make the people the
ultimate authority, but capitalism puts corporations first.
The beauty of this system for the Kochs and the Adelsons is that
nobody gets to vote for them, taking that pesky Constitution out of the
picture. And if, like Adelson, they own the media, nobody is going to
utter a word of complaint either.
In other words, as CNN Money is
reporting, the
Las Vegas Review-Journal
staff has been “told to ease up on coverage of new owner.” Of course,
by omitting certain areas from coverage, Adelson has tried to render it
the print version of Fox News.
CNN tells us that,
Management brought in Dave Butler, the executive editor of the Providence Journal, to “help establish some guidelines.” The Review-Journal and the Providence Journal are operated by the same company but owned by separate groups.
That ‘same company’ is GateHouse Media, which is a subsidiary of the New Media Investment Group.
The consequences?
“At one point, we mentioned that we were worried about
being able to cover some significant trials involving Adelson, and
Butler said if we don’t cover them other media outlets will, so it’s
OK,” one of the attendees said.
Needless to say, if you’re a journalist, a serious one – that is,
somebody NOT employed by Fox News (sorry Megyn Kelly) – this rubs you
the wrong way. Nothing is off limits. Editor Stephanie Grimes of the
Review-Journal tweeted her take:
Grimes
reported through Twitter that Butler was “concerned about looking like we’re ‘out to get our owner’: ‘How often do we need to mention the owners'”?
That’s “Republican speak,” as we all know by now, for “reveal the facts.”
Unfortunately, apparently, this was supposed to be a private meeting and…not so much. Butler
told CNN Money that,
“I told the staff I would take notes from the meeting
and put together a proposal for review on some guidelines. Some folks
are still nearly hysterical, as you might understand, and I did say
let’s just calm down a bit.”
To which Grimes
tweeted, “None of us were told it was a private meeting and we’re not ‘nearly hysterical.’ We’re doing our jobs.”
She also
pointed out that “Company leadership really doesn’t seem to understand just how far Adelson’s reach extends in Las Vegas.”
The thing is, when the paper was sold, it was kept secret for days.
You can ask, what did the family have to hide? But what’s truly shocking
is that it was the paper itself that had to break the news, against the
wishes of its new owner.
The
Review-Journal‘s manager, Michael Schroeder, told his
staff that the (so far unrevealed) new owners “want you to focus on your
jobs … don’t worry about who they are.”
So they did, as one of them, Jennifer Robison
tweeted “Welp, we DID focus on our jobs. Bad advice for him.” She was one of three RJ journalists who broke the story.
Michael Schroeder, as it happens, in what is an attempt by the
Adelson family at damage control, has just been fired, reported the
Review-Journal Monday. And there is good reason for their concern. The
Review-Journal notes,
The spotlight on Schroeder intensified on Dec. 18, when
the RJ revealed that GateHouse Media, which bought the RJ in March
before flipping it to the Adelson family, had without explanation
ordered RJ staffers to monitor the activities of three judges in Las
Vegas.
The RJ noted that a story critical of District Court Judge Elizabeth
Gonzalez’ handling of a wrongful termination case involving Adelson had
appeared in Schroeder’s New Britain (Conn.) Herald on Nov. 30. The story
carried the byline of Edward Clarkin, and included made-up quotes and
plagiarized passages.
Nationwide searches by multiple news organizations have turned up no
writers named Edward Clarkin, though Michael Schroeder’s middle name is
Edward, and his mother’s maiden name was Clarkin.
Schroeder has refused to comment on the Gonzalez story and did not return a call seeking comment for this story.
CNN’s Brian Stelter
puts it this way:
“There may be no more awkward position for a newspaper to find itself
in: reporting on itself when the owners clearly don’t want the
reporting.”
Then again, there may be: Schroeder
has ties to the Adelson family. They knew what they were getting when they turned him loose on the journalists at the
Review-Journal. The Adelsons can say now that they always planned to reveal the purchase, but why not reveal it then?
Because it’s a lot harder to have a paper say nice things about you
when everybody knows you own the paper. Information is for sale.
Newspapers are for sale.
Information is not so easy to control, however. Information almost
wants
to be discovered. And just occasionally the power of the people and
their right to know, wins out. We have the courage of some of the
Review-Journal‘s staff to thank for that.
As WaPo’s Steve Friess
tweeted, “the backbone and integrity the @reviewjournal reporters have shown this week is a modern miracle. Inspiring and brave.”
Adelson
is now claiming he didn’t buy the paper, his kids did, with their inheritance, and he has nothing to do with it.
Right.
Actions have consequences. Sometimes, they’re just not the consequences you expected.
stephanie grimes
