In fact, the Adelson family tried to address those concerns in their statement today confirming ownership of the paper. The Review-Journal has a joint operating agreement with The Las Vegas Sun that requires regular meetings between the owners of the two papers, at which the veil will presumably be lifted.
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An Adelson representative hasn’t responded to HuffPost’s requests for comment since Friday. Publisher Jason Taylor didn’t return calls for comment Tuesday, but he has previously said he can’t identify the group’s backers, who approached the paper months ago. In the 2012 campaign, the Adelson family spent more than any other donor – about $90 million.
Michael Hengel, the newspaper’s editor, said he wasn’t surprised by the unease in the newsroom.
“The lack of disclosure of the newspaper’s new ownership group compromises this publication’s ability to demand transparency of others”, it continued.
Speculation that Adelson might be the new owner started nearly immediately. The Review-Journal is the largest-circulation paper in the state, making it a powerful tool in the run-up to the Nevada caucus, which will be in mid-February and is one of the first on the primary schedule (third for Democrats and fourth for Republicans).
Adelson-said to be worth an estimated $28 million as the chairman and chief executive of the Las Vegas Sands Corp., which owns gambling resorts in Singapore and Macao, as well as the Venetian in Vegas-had been rumored to be the buyer, although he hadn’t acknowledged his ownership as of late Wednesday.
Las Vegas Sands owner Sheldon Adelson has been reported to be the owner of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Tuesday, Adelson had reportedly claimed that he has “no personal interest” in the paper.
The paper’s online story about the buyer showed hundreds of reader comments.
It’s hard to ask the public to trust a newspaper that is unwilling to reveal its ownership and their ties to other private interests. New buyers typically identify themselves and pledge publicly to keep the newspaper independent. “You might say it sometimes when you don’t know stuff or when there’s legal consequences and liabilities, but generally, the press has the general obligation to speak”, he said. The amount points to investors with deep pockets and a perhaps even deeper desire to own Nevada’s biggest newspaper even though the paper’s revenues, like those of all print publications, have been in decline.
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“Several watchdog journalists and integrity groups like the Society of Professional Journalists have rightly called for the new owners to be transparent and reveal their identities or risk having the quality and value of the information they provide rightly questioned by readers and employees”, said Titus. He hasn’t previously expressed interest in most American newspapers, sources told the Wall Street Journal, though the Review-Journal “has long piqued his interest”.
