Old fogey Sheldon Adelson owns the Las Vegas-Review Journal so it stands to reason that its journalists aren't allowed to write anything critical about the man -- even though 99.2 percent of what he does deserves criticism. LVRJ columnist John L. Smith recently resigned over this rule which was handed down by newly appointed editor Keith Moyer. Adelson and Smith have crossed paths in the past with the former suing the latter for libel back in 2005. Moyer claims the decision was his own and
on what goes on in the newsroom. Umm, yeah.
"His disdain for the working press and its prickly processes is palpable — and easily illustrated by his well-known litigiousness," Smith wrote in the R-J. "I experienced this firsthand when Adelson sued me for a few lines I'd written in my 2005 book "Sharks in the Desert: The Founding Fathers and Current Kings of Las Vegas." At the time, my daughter Amelia was being treated for brain cancer. After an excruciating civil process, during which I was forced to declare bankruptcy, the case was dismissed with prejudice by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Bruce Markell, who declared me the prevailing party."