Having Owned Up to Buying Newspaper, Adelsons Go Silent; New York Times, 12/17/15

Ravi Somaiya and Sydney Ember, New York Times; Having Owned Up to Buying Newspaper, Adelsons Go Silent:

"John L. Smith, a columnist for The Review-Journal who filed for bankruptcy while defending himself against a lawsuit brought by Mr. Adelson over a book Mr. Smith had written, said when reached by phone on Thursday that he would have to seek permission before speaking to a reporter. In a 2013 column about the lawsuit, Mr. Smith wrote that his lawyer had realized that “the case wasn’t about defamation, but about making me an object lesson for my newspaper and other journalists who dared to criticize the billionaire.” (Adelson eventually dropped the case.)...

Asked whether he was concerned about conflicts arising between his newsroom and Mr. Adelson’s myriad business and political interests, Mr. Hengel said, “Yes, absolutely.” He said, too, that he had argued with the newspaper’s publisher, Jason Taylor, over Mr. Taylor’s decision to remove references in an online article by The Review-Journal that raised questions about the ownership. But, he said, “What we’ve got to go on right now is their statement that they are going to allow us to pursue journalism the way we should and the way we’re expected to. I am going to take them at their word on that, until they prove otherwise.”...

Some remain skeptical. “I think there’s a lot of consternation, not just inside The Review-Journal, but outside,” said Jon Ralston, a veteran Nevada political journalist."