After Adelson Buys Vegas Paper, Editor Quits

Mike Hengel, the top editor of Nevada’s biggest newspaper, has stepped down less than two weeks after the family of casino mogul Sheldon Adelson took control.

“I think my resignation probably comes a relief to the new owners, and it is in my best interest and those of my family”, Hengel reportedly told his staffers.

Adelson’s spokesman for the Las Vegas Sands, Ron Reese, declined to comment, as did Gonzalez and longtime Review-Journal attorney Mark Hinueber, who said he could not say anything about whether he or other employees were still employed by the paper. Adelson is chief executive and chairman of publicly-traded Las Vegas Sands Corp.

Losing Hengel, however, has come as a bit of a shock to Review-Journal staff, but Smith said that his colleagues would not back down or refrain from pursuing independent journalism.

Adelson’s family ended days of speculation when it revealed last week that it was part of the recently incorporated News + Media Capital Group LLC, which bought the Review-Journal and some affiliated publications on December 10 for $140 million. (Several reporters said they were aware of only one other person who had accepted a buyout.) The buyout offers were made companywide before the sale was announced. The publisher has said that the new owners won’t be involved in news and editorial decisions. Trying to avert such concerns, on Tuesday the new owners delivered a message to their readers stating that they “pledge to publish a newspaper that is fair, unbiased and accurate” and that they would remain “stewards of this essential community institution”.

Ken Doctor, a media analyst, crunched the numbers and said the previous owner effectively flipped the newspaper for a profit.

“I didn’t see the point of it. I still don’t see the point of it”, Hengel told the AP on Tuesday, adding that he had not talked with anybody from the Adelson family or Schroeder.

After he decided against publishing any of the material about the judges, Hengel said, he sent the research to Publisher Jason Taylor and never heard more. Jennifer Robison, a reporter who has been writing about the sale, said that the year over all had been one of transition, and the ownership change was just the latest test. But without Mr. Hengel guiding the way, she said, there was more uncertainty than ever.

“It shows they are not afraid to stand up to the people who sign their paychecks, which is very admirable and lives up to the SPJ code of ethics”, Seaman said.

Associated Press Writer Sally Ho contributed this report.