Novel Defense: Buy A Newspaper?

Among the legal entanglements of Sheldon Adelson, the Las Vegas-based casino owner, billionaire and media mogul, is a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by Steven Jacobs, a former executive with Adelson’s casino operations in Macau. The New York Times now reports that Adelson, by way of a shell company, has purchased The Las Vegas Review-Journal, the largest circulation newspaper in Nevada. As the transaction was nearing completion in November, three reporters at the Review-Journal were instructed by management to monitor three Nevada judges and their courtroom behavior. One of those judges was Elizabeth Gonzalez, who is handling the wrongful termination suit against Adelman. No story was published, but about the same time two newspapers in Connecticut, both owned by the only named party at the shell company that bought the Las Vegas paper, did publish articles critical of Judge Gonzalez. Adelson, a prolific and intensely-courted political donor whose “auditions” of potential Republican presidential candidates has been widely reported, is also the owner of the most widely read newspaper in Israel, Israel Hayom (Israel Today). It’s a big supporter of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it’s free, and it was a significant factor in his recent election victory.