Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson purchased the Las Vegas Review Journal newspaper last month, and the New York Times is obsessed. The paper put a conspiratorial Sunday front-page spotlight on Adelson (who is, not coincidentally, a major Republican donor) and his legal clashes with Nevada Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez, who is overseeing a lawsuit against part of Adelson’s gambling empire based in Macau, off the Chinese mainland.
Also suspect in the eyes of the NYT: A free paper Adelson distributes in Israel “has been accused of supporting the conservative positions of Benjamin Netanyahu.” Of course, the Times never worries about being accused of supporting the liberal positions of Barack Obama.
The Times wrote about it last week and issued a follow up on Sunday from reporters Ravi Somaiya, Ian Lovett, and Barry Meier: “Mogul’s Purchase of Las Vegas Newspaper Is Seen as Power Play.”
Two days after Sheldon Adelson’s lawyers lost in their attempts to have a judge removed from a contentious lawsuit that threatens his gambling empire, a call went out to the publisher of this city’s most prominent newspaper.
Almost immediately, journalists were summoned to a meeting with the publisher and the general counsel and told they must monitor the courtroom actions of the judge and two others in the city. When the journalists protested, they were told that it was an instruction from above and that there was no choice in the matter.
It is unclear whether Mr. Adelson, who was then in talks to buy the newspaper, The Las Vegas Review-Journal, or his associates were behind the directive or even knew about it. But the instruction came in the first week of November, as negotiations on the sale were drawing to a close. It was an ominous coincidence for many in the city who worry what will become of the paper now that it is owned by Mr. Adelson, a billionaire casino magnate and prominent Republican donor with a history of aggressively pursuing his interests.
(New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr., a proud and public spouter of liberal fatuousness who presides over a liberal news page and left-wing editorial page, has evidently had no comment.)
Suspicions about his motives for paying a lavish $140 million for the newspaper last month are based on his reputation in Las Vegas as a figure comfortable with using his money in support of his numerous business and political concerns, said more than a dozen of the current and former Review-Journal staffers and local civic figures who have worked closely with him.
The Times allowed a rebuttal in paragraph six, although labeled it as coming from “crisis management expert” Mark Fabiani, who pointed out that billionaires have bought papers before without undue handwringing from media colleagues. John Henry bought the Boston Globe, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post. The Times quoted Fabiani saying “the newspaper did not publish any articles based on the journalists’ monitoring of the judges.” (Couldn’t the Times verify that itself?)
A statement from the Adelson family last month also assured that “the management team from New Media, which is currently running the [Las Vegas Review-Journal], will continue to oversee the operations of the publication,” but the Times didn’t bother to mention that in its story.
The case Judge Gonzalez is overseeing started in 2010 when the former chief executive of Sands’ operation in Macau, Steven C. Jacobs, filed a wrongful termination lawsuit, claiming he was fired for refusing to carry out orders from Mr. Adelson that he said he believed were illegal, including payments to local officials that might violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Mr. Adelson and Las Vegas Sands have insisted that they did nothing wrong and that Mr. Jacobs was fired for cause and is seeking money he does not deserve.
....
Journalists here worry that there is no shortage of issues, including the lawsuit, that they will feel pressured to cover differently.
Among other things, Mr. Adelson is a fierce opponent of loosening marijuana regulation, which will be on the Nevada ballot in 2016, and of online gambling, which remains an active issue in the state. He is also involved in other contentious lawsuits that have been the subject of critical media coverage.
The Review-Journal has a libertarian bent, and its editorial page agrees with Mr. Adelson on some issues. But it has also been unstinting in its news coverage of him, including articles on the lawsuit being overseen by Judge Gonzalez.
Many in the city remain concerned about the state of journalism there...
The paper fretted that a free paper Adelson distributes in Israel “has been accused of supporting the conservative positions of Benjamin Netanyahu.” Of course, the Times never worries about being accused of supporting the liberal positions of Barack Obama.
Some have looked to Israel, where Mr. Adelson owns a free national newspaper called Israel Hayom, as a potential guide to his intentions. The paper was founded in 2007 and has been accused of supporting the conservative positions of Benjamin Netanyahu, then the leader of the parliamentary opposition and now Israel’s prime minister, and of using Mr. Adelson’s billions to undercut its competitors. Mr. Adelson and Israel Hayom insist that it offers unbiased coverage.
Within Las Vegas, says Michael Green, an associate professor of history at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, Mr. Adelson seems to expect an increasing political power, commensurate with his staggering wealth. He may also be taking political clashes more personally, Mr. Green said.
Newsbusters’ Tim Graham caught the NYT’s panicky first report on the Adelson purchase and placed the paper’s double standard on display: “It’s quite clear the people at the Times know that media holdings can be a ‘powerful weapon’ to play with in politics. But the Sulzberger family isn’t trying to make America liberal as a selfish thing: that’s apparently “beneficial for the publications.” But ‘some observers’ -- liberal observers -- tell the Times that this is all selfishness on Adelson’s part.”
