• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, January 5, 2016

The bizarre, messy and fairly alarming situation at the Las Vegas Review-Journal hasn’t started to make much more sense as the year begins. Quite the opposite.

As the manager of the company that bought the newspaper, Michael Schroeder is removed from his position and an editor from a completely different newspaper is brought in, not to serve as interim editor, but to give discouraging pep talks to staffers. 

But one thing is becoming quite clear. If you’re a partisan plutocrat aspiring to covertly mold public opinion through ownership of news outlets, this is definitely not the way to go about it.

Let’s review (some) of the developments in this weird desert saga so far.

In March 2015, Gatehouse Media bought the LVRJ, but then turned around and sold the newspaper in December to News + Media Capital Group, a company which also owns a number of midsized newspapers on the East Coast. Under the terms of the deal, Gatehouse Media continues to manage the day-to-day operations of the LVRJ.

When LVRJ newsroom staff asked who was behind the deal – in effect, who they were now working for – NMCG’s boss, Schroeder, told them not to worry about it and just do their jobs. Schroeder failed to realize that this advice, being a contradiction in terms, was just going to cause trouble.

LVRJ editor Michael Hengel, questioning the new owner’s decision to remain anonymous, was also removed from the LVRJ story without the knowledge of the reporter or editors, further piquing their curiosity.

After a week of doing their jobs, LVRJ reporters discovered that the new owner was casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who also happens to be a high-profile political “mega-donor” supporting the Republican Party.

Adelson has used his ownership of newspapers in Israel to influence politics there, so his attempt to purchase the LVRJ on the sly naturally stoked concerns about its editorial independence. These concerns were only heightened when it was discovered that three LVRJ journalists had been moved from their beats to carry out an odd task – closely monitoring three judges in cases involving Adelson.

LVRJ reporters started asking about Schroeder’s involvement in a story published in the newspaper, apparently intended to cast doubt on the fairness of one of the judges.

Then last week brought revelations of attempts to influence coverage at another newspaper owned by NMCG, The Bristol Press in Connecticut, where reporter Steve Collins quit in protest over the newspaper’s publication of an editorial containing plagiarized passages that appeared under a fake name.

Bizarrely, the editorial in a local Connecticut newspaper was critical of Nevada judges that had tangled with Adelson.

The supposed author of the passages, one Edward Clarkin, doesn’t appear to exist – but Edward is Schroeder’s middle name, and Clarkin is his mother’s maiden name. Meanwhile, on December 22, the LVRJ’s former editor, Michael Hengel, announced his resignation with the comment: “I think my resignation probably comes as a relief to the new owners.” 

All of which brings us to this week. On Monday, it was revealed that Schroeder has stepped down from his positions as manager of NMCG and the LVRJ, and will “will have no role whatsoever with regard to the paper,” according to a spokesman for the Adelson family.

No reason was given for Schroeder’s removal.

Also this week, David J. Butler, the executive editor of the Providence Review-Journal, also owned by Gatehouse Media, visited the LVRJ newsroom to discuss how reporters should cover the newspaper’s new owner, Adelson, as well as how often the newspaper should disclose the potential conflicts of interest resulting form his ownership.

(A report from Politico that Butler would serve as interim editor, filling in until Hengel’s replacement can be found, turned out to be incorrect – which seems to leave the newspaper’s editorial management adrift.)

According to a series of tweets from LVRJ features editor Stephanie Grimes, Butler’s advice to the newsroom was basically to stop harping on Adelson’s ownership of the newspaper, lest they make it seem like the newspaper was “out to get our owner,” asking: “How often do we need to mention the owners.”

Grimes also tweeted that Butler told assembled editors: “One thing you have to get your head around is ... newspapers are a business, and owners can do (what they want) with them.” Butler also ventured that at some undecided future point, the newspaper might stop including regular disclosures of Adelson’s ownership, since the public would have presumably gotten the message.  

Again, according to Grimes tweets, editors responded by expressing concern that these suggestions were an invitation to engage in self-censorship. As for ceasing regular disclosures about Adelson’s ownership, Grimes opined: “I don't think you'll find another soul in the room who thinks we should stop disclosing conflicts of interest at some arbitrary future point.”

So there you have it – whatever you want to classify this ungodly mess as. (My unvarnished opinion, unprintable in a family-oriented blog, is: “clusterf*ck.”)

The one thing that stands out to me is that Schroeder, having served as Adelson’s tool to influence public opinion by suborning his newspapers’ editorial integrity, is being discarded – not because Adelson had a change in heart about editorial independence, but because Schroeder screwed up and got caught.

OMG, can’t wait for next week’s installment!