Columnist Jeff German: Oh…the R-J owns El Tiempo Libre

Friday, June 8, 2001 | 5:37 a.m.

Jeff German is the Sun's senior investigative reporter. He can be reached at (702)259-4067 or by e-mail at german@lasvegassun.com

NEWSPAPERS are not immune from conflicts of interest.

Last week the Las Vegas Review-Journal committed a cardinal sin of the profession when it printed a hatchet job on Spanish-language newspaper publisher Eddie Escobedo Sr. without disclosing it owns a competing weekly.

Escobedo, who has published the popular El Mundo for 20 years, was the subject of a Review-Journal story that suggested last month's Cinco de Mayo festival, organized by Escobedo's Mexican Patriotic Committee, may have shorted the city thousands of dollars.

The city had a contract with the committee, a nonprofit organization that raises college scholarships for Hispanic youths, to allow it to use Freedom Park in return for giving the city a percentage of the gate.

The story alleged that the attendance at the annual event may have been deliberately under-reported and that city auditors now are looking at the figures to see if the city is owed more money.

Escobedo strongly denies the accusations, which he says are being stirred up by Carlo Maffatt, publisher of El Tiempo Libre, a smaller competitor owned by the Review-Journal.

Maffat, Escobedo insists, told the Review-Journal two years ago when it bought El Tiempo Libre that he would drive El Mundo out of business within six months.

"They haven't been able to knock us out of business, but they're still trying," Escobedo says. "They're trying to dig up dirt to discredit me."

Escobedo, whose newspaper has 70 percent of the Spanish-language market, also charges that the Review-Journal has been eager to buy his publication and that the story was part of an effort to "squeeze" him into selling.

Review-Journal Publisher Sherman Frederick says that's not the case.

"As far as I know, this is an honest attempt at investigating a story," he says. "It's not some grand plot to give our newspaper an edge. To question the writer's motives is a tactic we're used to."

But consider how the story was presented.

Maffatt shared a byline on the Review-Journal story, which told readers the article was a result of a joint review of records by both newspapers.

Nowhere in the story did the Review-Journal disclose that it owned El Tiempo Libre and could benefit financially from the negative publicity surrounding Escobedo and El Mundo.

Such a disclosure would have been the professional thing to do.

Frederick candidly agrees.

"It's not like us not to declare our conflicts or perceived conflicts, and we should have done that in this case," he says. "When we don't do that, it allows subjects of stories to deflect attention away from what they did to what we wrote.

"We should have made it clear to our readers that Carlo Maffatt is the publisher of El Tiempo Libre and it is an Hispanic newspaper that we own that competes with El Mundo."

But Frederick adds: "That presumes you buy into Escobedo's paranoia."

Some have suggested Escobedo may have reason to be paranoid.

Within the past couple of months, anonymous packets accusing Escobedo of being a racist have been sent to El Mundo's biggest advertisers.

Inside each packet is an unsigned letter with attached newspaper clips of recent interviews Escobedo has given.

"While society and the nation moved toward integration and racial harmony," the letter says, "Eddie Escobedo, a disrespectful, self-proclaimed Hispanic leader, condemns racial integration by marriage, therefore looking upon integrated families as social outcasts.

"Your hard-earned dollars are being used to fortify this racist mentality as you sponsor his publication, El Mundo."

Escobedo says the comments attributed to him were taken out of context.

"I'm not a racist," he adds.

He says he suspects Maffatt is behind the mailings, and he's contemplating asking postal inspectors to investigate.

Maffatt denies having anything to do with the mailings and says he's not trying to dirty up Escobedo to lure business away from him.

Frederick, meanwhile, confirms that the Review-Journal has been trying to buy El Mundo. But he says his paper isn't the only bidder.

The Greenspun family, which owns the Las Vegas Sun, has had similar discussions with Escobedo, Frederick says.

But Sun Managing Editor Michael J. Kelley says there was an exploratory conversation with Escobedo about 18 months ago and no further talks since then.

Escobedo says that if he ever does sell, it will be to the Greenspuns. He credits late Sun Publisher Hank Greenspun with helping him keep El Mundo afloat in its early days.

In the meantime Escobedo is hoping the Review-Journal will learn to avoid conflicts of interest in the future.