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Las Vegas Review-Journal

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Las Vegas Review-Journal
June 19, 2006 front page of the
Las Vegas Review-Journal
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatBroadsheet
Owner(s)News + Media Capital Group LLC [1]
EditorMichael Hengel
FoundedSeptember 18, 1909
(as the Clark County Review)
Headquarters1111 West Bonanza Road
Las Vegas, Nevada 89106
United States
Circulation172,366 Daily
204,036 Sunday[2]
ISSN1097-1645
Websitereviewjournal.com

The Las Vegas Review-Journal is a major daily newspaper published in Las Vegas, Nevada since 1909. It is the largest circulating daily newspaper in Nevada, and one of two daily newspapers in the Las Vegas area (The Greenspun Corporation-owned Las Vegas Sun is distributed with it). The paper usually takes what is perceived to be a libertarian editorial stance.[3] On November 12, 2010, the paper announced that its longtime publisher, Sherman Frederick, would be replaced by Bob Brown and that editor Thomas Mitchell would become a senior opinion writer.

The Review-Journal has a joint operating agreement with the Las Vegas Sun, which runs through 2040. In 2005, the Sun ceased afternoon publication and began distribution as a section of the Review-Journal. On March 18, 2015, the sale of the newspaper's parent company, Stephens Media LLC, to New Media Investment Group was completed.[4] In December, 2015, casino magnate and Republican Party donor Sheldon Adelson purchased the newspaper for $140 million via News + Media Capital Group LLC.[5]

History

The Clark County Review was first printed in 1909 and became the Las Vegas Review in 1926 When Frank Garside who owned several other Nevada papers, brought in Al Cahlan. In March 1929, the Clark County Journal began publication, and in July of that year, the Review bought the Journal and began co-publication as the Las Vegas Evening Review-Journal. In the early 1940s, Cahlan & Garside, owners of the RJ bought the Las Vegas Age, from Charles P. "Pop" Squires, which began publication in 1905 and was the oldest surviving paper in Las Vegas. The word "evening" was dropped from the name in 1949 when Garside left the company and Cahlan struck an agreement with Donald W. Reynolds and his Donrey Media Group.

The paper signed on Las Vegas' third television station, KLRJ-TV, in 1955, later changing the calls to KORK-TV. The station was sold in 1979, changing its call letters again first to KVBC, and then, in 2010, to the current KSNV-DT.

In December 1960, Reynolds exercised a buyout option with Cahlan, and bought the paper.[6] The RJ published a morning and evening edition from that point until the late 1980s, when the Las Vegas Sun began afternoon publication.

Reynolds died in 1993, and longtime friend Jack Stephens bought his company, renamed it Stephens Media and moved the company's headquarters to Las Vegas. The Review-Journal entered into its first Joint Operating Agreement, or JOA, with the Sun in 1990, which was amended in 2005.[7] In early 2015, the Stephens Media newspapers were sold to New Media Investment Group.[4][8]

The newspaper has won the "General Excellence" award from the Nevada Press Association several times and has also won the "Freedom of the Press" award for its First Amendment battles from the statewide organization.[9]

Beginning in 2010, the Stephens Media property Las Vegas Review-Journal adopted a new business plan based on copyright litigation.[10] That practice has been coined "copyright trolling" after its practice of scouring the internet for 'violations' to make a profit.[11] The newspaper is currently involved in a controversy over the licensing of its content to Righthaven LLC, a litigation firm that was "grubstaked" by Stephens Media,[12] the now-former parent company of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and exists for the sole purpose of suing media outlets, including blogs, over the use of copyrighted content that first appeared in the Review-Journal. [clarification needed]

Righthaven sued a Boston-based cat blogger over her attribution to a Review-Journal story on her blog.[13] Righthaven CEO Steve Gibson's vision is to "monetize news content on the backend, by scouring the internet for infringing copies of his client's articles, then suing and relying on the harsh penalties in the Copyright Act — up to $150,000 for a single infringement — to compel quick settlements."[14]

Between March and August 2010, Righthaven LLC filed litigation suits against 107 blogs,[15] political forums, major political parties, and several of the newspaper's own sources including NORML, DailyPaul.com, Infowars, Free Republic and others.[16] On August 25, 2010, the Electronic Frontier Foundation announced that it would make efforts to assist Righthaven LLC defendants to the best of its ability.[17]

In September, the EFF, with other pro bono attorneys (Las Vegas attorney Chad Bowers and attorneys from the firm of Winston & Strawn) filed an Answer and Counterclaim on behalf of Democratic Underground, a political website that Righthaven sued when a Democratic Underground member posted a five-sentence excerpt from a Review-Journal article.[18][19] Counterclaims were asserted against Stephens Media as well as Righthaven. The pleading alleged a "sham relationship" between the newspaper and Righthaven, and accused Righthaven of copyright fraud.[18]

In March 2011, a federal judge found that uses of Las Vegas Review-Journal content, including citations of full articles, is generally 'fair use' ref.[20]

Columnists

  • Norm Clarke: Clarke is a gossip columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal; his column, "Vegas Confidential", covers celebrities and near-celebrities and their goings-on in "Sin City".
  • Corey Levitan: authored column Fear and Loafing, January 2006 to June 2011
  • John L. Smith: Smith, also an author of Las Vegas-related works,[21] has written a human-interest column for the Las Vegas Review-Journal since the late 1980s.
  • Steve Sebelius: Sebelius is the political columnist for the Review-Journal and author of the blog SlashPolitics.com.

References

  1. ^ http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/pressure-go-public-grows-new-review-journal-owners
  2. ^ "2007 Top 100 Daily Newspapers in the U.S. by Circulation" (PDF). BurrellesLuce. 2007-03-31. Retrieved 2007-05-30. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ Rainey, James (March 8, 2006). "Sleeping with the enemy newspaper; The underdog Las Vegas Sun is being inserted into the rival Review-Journal". Los Angeles Times. p. E1.
  4. ^ a b "Sale of Review-Journal to New Media closes". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Las Vegas, NV: Stephens Media. March 18, 2015. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
  5. ^ Primack, Dan (December 16, 2015). "Yes, Sheldon Adelson Bought The Las Vegas Review-Journal". Fortune. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  6. ^ Green, Michael S. (Fall 1988). "The Las Vegas Newspaper War of the 1950s" (PDF). Nevada Historical Society Quarterly: 174 & others. ISSN 0047-9462.
  7. ^ Reviewjournal.com
  8. ^ Stutzlas, Howard (February 19, 2015). "Review-Journal, parent Stephens Media to be sold to New Media". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Las Vegas, NV: Stephens Media. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  9. ^ "Review-Journal staff takes top award for third year". Las Vegas Review-Journal. October 16, 2011.
  10. ^ Las Vegas Review-Journal Thinks Suing Sites Over Copyright Will Mean More People Link To It | Techdirt
  11. ^ Kravets, David (July 22, 2010). "Newspaper Chain's New Business Plan: Copyright Suits". Wired.
  12. ^ Copyright theft: We're not taking it anymore - The Complete Las Vegan - ReviewJournal.com
  13. ^ "Copyright sleuthing (or, what happens in The Las Vegas Review-Journal..."
  14. ^ Kravets, David (July 22, 2010). "Newspaper Chain's New Business Plan: Copyright Suits". Wired.
  15. ^ List of Righthaven Lawsuits
  16. ^ Is This the Birth of the Copyright Troll?
  17. ^ EFF Seeks to Help Righthaven Defendants | Electronic Frontier Foundation
  18. ^ a b Green, Steve (September 28, 2010). "R-J owner faces counterclaim in copyright lawsuit campaign". Las Vegas Sun. Las Vegas, Nevada. Retrieved 2010-10-08.
  19. ^ Copy of the "Answer and Counterclaim" available at EFF.org
  20. ^ Arstechnica.com
  21. ^ John L. Smith biodata
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