{"id":115736,"date":"2019-09-25T15:19:04","date_gmt":"2019-09-25T22:19:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=115736"},"modified":"2019-11-01T07:02:20","modified_gmt":"2019-11-01T14:02:20","slug":"sheldon-adelson-and-las-vegas-review-journal-sued-by-las-vegas-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sheldon-adelson-and-las-vegas-review-journal-sued-by-las-vegas-sun\/","title":{"rendered":"Sheldon Adelson and Las Vegas Review-Journal Sued by Las Vegas Sun for ‘Strangling Competition’"},"content":{"rendered":"

LVS Corp casino mogul Sheldon Adelson<\/a> began a \u201ccalculated scheme\u201d to monopolize the Las Vegas newspaper industry by \u201cstrangling the sole remaining competitor and dissenting voice\u201d after he purchased the Las Vegas Review-Journal<\/em> in 2015. That\u2019s according to an antitrust lawsuit filed this week by said competitor, The Las Vegas Sun.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Sheldon
The Las Vegas Sun<\/em> lawsuit accuses 86-year-old billionaire Adelson of trying to put it out of business in a bid to gain \u201c100 percent monopoly power\u201d over print media in Nevada. (Image: Yuya Shino\/Reuters)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Competitors they may be, but since 1989, LVRJ and the Sun have been bound by a 50-year joint operating agreement (JOA), authorized by the federal Newspaper Preservation Act (NPA) and approved by the Department of Justice.<\/p>\n

The Nixon-era law permits certain antitrust exemptions for newspapers operating in the same market area, allowing them to combine production, marketing, distribution, and sales, provided they remain competitive and editorially independent of one another. It was hoped this would keep more regional newspapers afloat.<\/p>\n

\n

But LVRJ recently sued to extricate itself from the JOA, claiming breach of contract. The Sun lawsuit claims the litigation is \u201cbaseless and unlawful,\u201d and brought solely because Adelson knows the Sun is \u201coperationally and economically dependent\u201d on LVRJ.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Terminating the JOA would effectively kill the Sun, \u201ccomplet[ing] Adelson\u2019s plan to achieve 100 percent monopoly power of local daily newspapers in Las Vegas and stifle all dissenting views,\u201d the suit alleges.<\/p>\n

Anonymous Acquisition <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Adelson purchased LVRJ anonymously<\/a> in 2015, leading the newspaper\u2019s own reporters to uncover the identity of their new boss through old-fashioned investigative journalism. LVRJ broke the story that Adelson had bought the paper before any official announcement from the billionaire\u2019s camp.<\/p>\n

All three reporters who had worked on that story — including gaming industry reporter Howard Stutz — left the newspaper shortly afterwards, and others quickly followed them out of the door, amid allegations that stories pertaining to Adelson and his operations were being heavily edited or killed by the new management.<\/p>\n

Longtime columnist John L. Smith, who was once sued by Adelson for defamation, said he was told he would be fired if he covered anything to do with the LVS boss.<\/p>\n

Campaign of Oppression<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Sun lawsuit does not mice its words.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefendant Sheldon Adelson has been a long-time enemy of the First Amendment and the press,\u201d it alleges. \u201cFor decades, he has filed and prosecuted one frivolous and ultimately unsuccessful defamation case after another. His object has always been clear: chill free speech and silence those that would speak out against him.”<\/p>\n

Against this campaign of oppression, courageous journalists have nonetheless doggedly investigated Adelson\u2019s suspicious business dealings, lawsuits, and political activities while shining a disinfecting sunlight on his actions,\u201d said the Sun’s lawyers.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But Benjamin Lipman, LVRJ\u2019s vice president of legal affairs and general counsel, told Bloomberg Law<\/em> the lawsuit appeared to be retaliation for the breach of contract claim.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe the allegations are baseless and do not have merit,\u201d he added. \u201cWe intend to fight the case and we\u2019re confident we will succeed\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

In March, a lawyer for LVS revealed that Adelson was seriously ill and had been undergoing treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LVS Corp casino mogul Sheldon Adelson began a \u201ccalculated scheme\u201d to monopolize the Las Vegas newspaper industry by \u201cstrangling the sole remaining competitor and dissenting voice\u201d after he purchased the Las Vegas Review-Journal in 2015. That\u2019s according to an antitrust lawsuit filed this week by said competitor, The Las Vegas Sun. Competitors they may be, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":115748,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,60],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSheldon Adelson and LVRJ Sued by Las Vegas Sun for Strangling Competition<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Las Vegas Sun files antitrust lawsuit against Sheldon Adelson and the Las Vegas Review-Journal for allegedly trying to put it out of business.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sheldon Adelson and LVRJ Sued by Las Vegas Sun for Strangling Competition\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Las Vegas Sun files antitrust lawsuit against Sheldon Adelson and the Las Vegas Review-Journal for allegedly trying to put it out of business.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sheldon-adelson-and-las-vegas-review-journal-sued-by-las-vegas-sun\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-25T22:19:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-11-01T14:02:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/shel.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta 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