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You are to be forgiven if you’re having trouble keeping up with developments at the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
As of Wednesday, the newspaper has a new interim editor in Glenn Cook and a policy (below) for how to deal with potential conflicts of interest in covering its new owners.
R-J reporters and editors have been widely praised in journalism circles for their tenacity in covering the sale to the Adelson family.
At the same time, some experts such as Ken Doctor and Jay Rosen are calling for more inquiries into the role Gatehouse Media played in sending Review-Journal reporters to follow judges at the time the sale was being negotiated.
And this week, the short-term manager who announced the sale, Michael Schroeder, has published an apology to his own readers (below) for a story in his paper somehow linked to the investigation of the judges.
While all this roils the newspaper industry, the reading public must wonder what all the fuss is about.
Why does it matter?
Here’s a nice piece by Foster Kamer that touches on the nostalgia and attachment that can grow between readers and their hometown newspapers, while at the same time accurately, I think, summarizing the potential future effects an owner may have on the newspaper.
As I’ve said before, what fun is it to own a newspaper if you don’t get to say what goes in it?
In that respect, though, newspapers are like NFL teams. Usually, the more an owner trusts the skills and instincts of the people he hired, the better the team does in the long run.
And if you are going to have an influence on how a city like Las Vegas is shaped, it’s likely going to be at the speed of a glacier rather than a burst of fireworks. While the glittery surface changes rapidly, old loyalties run deep.
The press is like no other business, because of the First Amendment responsibility that comes with it. When you try to work against that principle — the marketplace of ideas, where the good and true are allowed to rise unfettered to the top — by constantly promoting a narrow point of view, you lose credibility.
How may minds is Fox changing? How about MSNBC? Have you ever seen a political advertisement on TV that actually persuaded you to vote for that candidate?
Credibility and trust have to come first. Then you can reinforce your message and begin to shape public opinion.
All that can be done without overt interference from the owner, or even the publisher.
Each day, a newspaper sends out three armies:
- Carriers who cover every neighborhood in a city before it wakes each morning. Few people see what’s going on better than those who deliver newspapers.
- Salespeople who are knocking on the doors of businesses. Who knows the pulse of the local economy better than the advertising department?
- Reporters charged with finding the most interesting stuff going on today and tomorrow. They tell the entire community what it needs to know.
Those are three reasons a newspaper is well positioned to lead. And I believe newspapers should have a personality. You should know where they stand on their opinion pages, and you should know the newsroom will be fearless. Corporate monoliths are poorly equipped to do any of that.
A great newspaper can grow anywhere, and it can be read everywhere. It’s limited only by its own ambitions.
Las Vegas is a world city, at least by reputation. Events there on some beats — gaming, politics, entertainment — make worldwide news. The Consumer Electronics Show this week is an example, and Johnny Manziel’s wig is another.
Nobody blames a football team for trying to win. They blame it only for acting like winning doesn’t matter.
The Las Vegas newspaper should reflect the city — brash, electric, naughty and willing to gamble. It can be all those things and still tell the truth.
Update: Here’s the disclaimer that runs on the R-J’s Page 3.