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By J. Patrick Coolican (contact) 
Published Friday, Nov. 12, 2010 | 12:53 p.m.
Updated Friday, Nov. 12, 2010 | 9:53 p.m.
Sherman Frederick
In a shake-up at the highest ranks of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the newspaper announced Friday that Publisher Sherman Frederick has left the post and will become a consultant and columnist, and Editor Thomas Mitchell was reassigned from newsroom boss to senior opinion editor. General Manager Allan Fleming was let go.
The change in publishers shifts the control of the newspaper from a journalist to a businessman.
Frederick also was replaced as CEO of Stephens Media Group, owner of the R-J, by Michael Ferguson, the company’s chief operating officer. Ferguson in turn named Bob Brown, the newspaper’s advertising director since 2001, as the new publisher, according to the newspaper.
The changes came as a surprise to most R-J employees. Senior editors were informed of the changes an hour before the news was published on the R-J’s website.
The moves bring an abrupt end to the Frederick-Mitchell era. Their 18-year tenure as publisher and editor spanned an eventful period in the city’s history, including rapid growth, salacious public corruption, newfound political prominence and crushing recession. The newspaper, whose circulation grew with the city’s population although never quite as quickly, covered these events with a relatively short-staffed newsroom, and an editorial page that is one of the most conservative in the country.
(The Sun is distributed inside the R-J but has a separate newsroom and management.)
Ferguson said decisions about the future of the R-J will be left to Brown and his local management team.
An announcement on a new editor will be made in the coming weeks, he said.
Speculation was rampant inside Stephens Media and in valley media circles that the moves, which were paired with several others on the business side of the operation, came in part as the result of the recent election results.
Both Frederick and Mitchell made no secret of their journalistic focus on ousting Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid from office, a fact noted in the national media for months.
An individual familiar with the situation said senior editors were summoned to a meeting with Brown and corporate attorney Mark Hinueber at 11 a.m. Friday. Brown and Hinueber told the group of the changes and said they anticipated a lot of speculation, including some who would say it was related to the newspaper’s vocal stance on the Reid-Sharron Angle race.
Politics had nothing to do with the decision, they told the group. Rather, the company wanted to go in a different direction.
Ferguson echoed that, saying the personnel moves have nothing to do with the election coverage.
Still, sources inside Stephens said they suspect executives at the company, which is owned by an Arkansas investment bank with interests before Congress, felt chagrined that its Las Vegas-based executives made so public their Reid-hunt.
The changes were greeted at the R-J with a mix of excitement at the possibility of a new editorial direction and fear over the potential they could be the precursor to additional personnel cuts. Mostly, R-J staffers were surprised because Frederick and Mitchell seemed entrenched.
Employees had furtive conversations in the newsroom while others talked on cell phones in the parking lot, neither of which is typical, an employee said.
Frederick enjoyed dropping by the newsroom to swap political gossip and trade stories, coffee cup in hand.
Mitchell was a more taciturn manager whose decisions weren’t subject to debate from his employees. He was seen packing up his belongings Friday.
As for whether Mitchell was demoted, Ferguson advised the Sun to contact Mitchell. Mitchell answered but hung up the phone when a Sun reporter identified himself. On a second call, Mitchell hung up again.
Allan Fleming, whose position was eliminated as a cost-saving measure, declined to comment.
As for whether Frederick was fired, Ferguson referred to the article on the paper’s website, which said Frederick decided to step aside.
In the newspaper’s own story, Frederick — who is recovering from prostate and heart-bypass surgeries — was quoted: “It’s been a hard summer for me. I’m looking forward to a more measured pace for a while, as well as my new duties with the company.”
The newspaper said Frederick will become a consultant to Stephens Media and write a weekly column for its newspapers.
Frederick was named publisher in 1992 and became CEO of Stephens Media in 1999. He began his career with Donrey Media, later bought by Stephens, as an R-J reporter in 1976. He moved up the ranks to city editor in 1979 and the following year was named editor of the Hawaii Tribune-Herald. In 1985, he took a job as general manager of the Alamogordo (N.M.) Daily News, another Donrey holding, and returned to Las Vegas as editor in 1988.
The newspaper has been engaged in a controversial undertaking to protect its copyright. Frederick has been a champion of Righthaven LLC, a Las Vegas copyright enforcement company a Stephens Media affiliate had invested in.
Righthaven has sued 166 website operators throughout North America since March, alleging all or part of R-J stories, editorials and columns were posted on the defendants’ websites without authorization.
Righthaven CEO Steven Gibson, a Las Vegas attorney, said the changes announced Friday at the R-J “in no way diminishes the Righthaven business model.”
Ferguson has been involved with newspapers since he was 12 and threw them onto porches in Pomona, Calif. He has had a long career in Las Vegas and in California on the circulation, advertising and business ends of newspaper companies.
Ferguson said the company would continue to bring compelling news and information to local communities in whatever format — print or digital — consumers desire.
Stephens Media publishes 74 newspapers, including several Spanish-language ones, in nine states. The R-J is the company’s flagship newspaper.
Sun reporters Delen Goldberg and Steve Green contributed to this story.
Focus on journalism, and the story writes itself.
Oh well, we'll still have to read the Shermsters right wing prattle, I guess. Even with his health issues, he will manage to spew his Tea Party nonsense. Hope he recovers OK, however.
We all reap what we sow.
It's hard not to assume that this is a direct response to Sherm and Tom making the RJ into a propaganda machine more known for eccentricity and controversy than journalism. One can only hope that this signals an editorial shift, as well as, for their own sake, an awakening to the age of technology.
It will also be interesting to see if the Righthaven partnership continues as-is.
Mr. Ralston,
I remember when you first wrote an article about the relationship between the RJ and Righthaven and my avice in a post to you was, "to never get in between a murder/suicide", I just don't know it would happen so soon.
The lack of journalistic integrity is something that can not be cloaked for ever.
Wow....maybe just maybe we will be able to start reading the Review Journal again. Now they just need to get rid of this scumbag lawyer that runs righthaven.
I'll bet he'll make more money at his new position. Isn't that what drives them all?
What really happened?
The RJ antagonized the most powerful Democrat in the state, and simultaneously antagonized much of the Republican Establishment: the Republican mayor of Reno, the Republican mayor of Sparks, and longtime powerbroker Bill Raggio. Now Sherman Frederick "looks forward to [his] new duties with the company."
What duties??? He's a "consultant". Nobody at his level is ever "unemployed." Instead he's a "consultant," whose modest duties include pounding out a weekly column. He used to write a column while running the newspaper.
Frederick was fired, then put out to pasture as a face-saving gesture.
If Sherman Frederick is looking for material for a column, he might revisit his many past columns, published with titles like "The Future Looks Dim for Harry Reid".
The business side of the RJ, from Managing Editor Zobel on down, are fine people and I hope Stephens Media leaves them in place.
Wow ,,,,, I may start reading the RJ again
Well, it'll interesting to see Sarge's take on this. I believe the bloodletting had less to do with Frederick's "over the top" columns and blogs on Senator Reid, than with his initiation of the copyright suits. They haven't been profitable enough at this point to cover Stephens' investment and the response nationally to the actions has been generally negative.
Good riddance Sherm
Wonder what would have happened to the Sun if Angle had won and the Sun's "over the top" support of Reid had become an issue? Ralston and Greenspun were Reid's lapdogs, so what's the difference between the two unethical publications in Nevada?
I like that the Las Vegas Sun is careful not to throw stones while living in their own glass house.
With "journalist" like Jon Ralston on the payroll, their integrity is questioned by his and other Sun writers unabashed allegiance to the lonnie left is as deadly as Sherm's allegiance was to the Right.
It would be cool if a city of 1.8 Million people had a NEWSpaper instead of just two gossip rags/accident reporting/PD press release publishing/and bullhorn for dems/rupubs interests' paid advertising bulletins that just happen to be printed on NEWSprint.
You both are getting close to the point of some lawyer suing you for using the words NEWSpaper as false and misleading advertising.
for my boys over at the RJ.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsaTElBlj...
> as deadly as Sherm's allegiance was to the Right.
except Ralston was right once or twice.
bwwwwwaaaaaaahhhhhhhaaaaaaaaa.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsaTElBlj...
Maybe Sherm's employer's downloaded his computer and found that he was spending most of his compensated time on the Las Vegas Sun's Blog.
You can't create a good news paper if your too busy enjoying the opposition paper. Just a thought.
Karma is a beautiful thing.
This is the most exciting news since Harry Reid won. Maybe I'll re-subscribe to the RJ. It was bad enough having to read their opinions online, but I refused to continue paying for them.
i worked for that paper and it couldn't happen to a nicer jerk.
laying people off claiming poverty while the managers kept their huge salaries.
Hmmm, perhaps it was not such a good idea to sue your readers and customers.
And perhaps it was not such a good idea to use faulty polls in support of the losing Senate candidate.
"Both Frederick and Mitchell made no secret of their journalistic focus on ousting Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid from office, a fact noted in national media for months."
Just as this paper made no secret of their focus on keeping Reid in office. There's no room to act all high and mighty as if the RJ was the only paper with an agenda.
Whne someone else is down & out, the leftists show their true colors. And it isn't the diversity or compassion they bleat about. No one is more mean-spirited than a liberal when he or she smells blood in the water. The R/J saved the LV Pravda from the dustbin of history by agreeing to publish its fish-wrap under the JOA. The Pravda is not a newspaper; it is an eight-pager! Although there are 2 things I do like about it: its 3 comic strips and the daily puzzle.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
These two idiots were sacked for their hamhanded handling of the election and their over the top efforts to kill Harry Reid's candidacy. They put all their money on red and it came up black!
I couldn't be happirt that these to right wing nutcases were put in their place!!!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
speaking of hot air, southwest gas filed for a rate increase. http://thelasvegasnevadablog.blogspot.co...
Maybe they can hold on to some employment while they get ready to be campaign managers for Angle's next unsuccessful bid!!!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
It would be great to see them at the end of an unemployment line though as they have been relentless in their disdain for the downtrodden!!
Very true Decoy - btw, I loathe Sherm and Mitchell and voted for Reid!
@lvfacts101 and dave202:
The reality is that Stephens Media LLC's appointment of the RJ's ADVERTISING MANAGER speaks volumes about the problem and the solution at the RJ.
Newspaper owners typically appoint ADVERTISING MANAGERS as "the big cheese" when they have been losing advertising revenue (or big advertisers have threatened to pull their business) because nutball publishers or editors, whether on the left or right, are making the advertisers mad.
That's a simple fact of life, which has happened at newspapers far, far bigger than the R-J.
So no, it wouldn't have mattered if Angle had won and it doesn't matter that you think the R-J props up The Sun.
Money talks, in a very loud voice.
By the way, Stephens Media LLC's employee Steve Sebelius seemingly smelled blood in the water five days ago. See:
http://slashpolitics.lvcitylife.com/2010...
You know, I'm an atheist, but I am starting to believe that there just might be a God!!
Karma is a bitch huh Sherm and Mitchell!!!
Change is good. It would be refreshing to see a true Nevada libertarian (lower-case "L") at the editorial helm, with no allegiance to any movement or party.
stevem...there is NO JUSTIFICATION for a rate increase at SW Gas. In fact, they should be LOWERING RATES because gas prices are exceptionally low right now, about half the price of a few years ago!
SW Gas is a bloated monopoly that needs to be reeled in!
Just like Ensign and Angle, when someone has a lie to tell they go on the "Alan Stock Republican News Show" as did "Fergie."
I predicted the Arkansas crowd would dump the dynamic duo after the "Raison d etat" of the RJ became "dump Reid."
The following should immediately take place:
1) The RJ printing presses should be pulled and melted down into sheet metal to build housing for Haitians.
2) The 6 talk stations in Vegas that were also shills for the Angle campaign should be turned into music stations.
3) The RJ should be closed. The empty Bonanza building should be turned into a community center.
Hey Sherm and Cowboy Hat! Don't go away mad..just go away! This is going to be a GREAT WEEKEND!
Medical care in Arizona, writing from Hawaii? Newspaper run from Arkansas? (hey, isn't Hawaii socialist?)
I'm sticking to the Pulitzer-Prize winning Nevada newspaper.
Observation: mred offers "solutions" to the RJ/talk radio "problem" and all of them suggest taking away private property and repurposing it for the "community."
Interesting.
Mr. Fink, I note that you seem to suggest that you read the "Pravda," as you call the Sun. That cannot be correct, because no intelligent person who reads the Sun would compare it with a communist newspaper. Nor, I suspect, would you have the guts to look a Sun employee in the eye and say that.
I wrote an email to Mr. Frederick, with whom I am acquainted, saying I hoped he would be well, and said the same in the R-J comment section before they took down comments. But it may interest you to know that when Landra Reid was in a near-fatal auto accident, both Mr. Frederick and the Sun closed the comment section because of the "people" posting that it was too bad she hadn't been killed, too bad her husband hadn't been killed, etc. For you to claim that "liberals" reveal their "true colors" is a bit like the pot commenting on the kettle's tarnished condition.
I'm as happy as can be. After years of pretending to be reporters, Sherm and Mitchell will now be OFFICIALLY doing what they've been doing all along, OPINION. While they have every right to their opinion, their efforts to subvert the news with their own agenda was disgusting, frustrating, and unethical. Hey Stephens Media, bet you can get them for really cheap, now.
p.s. The RJ isn't totally different. Note that their piece on this issue doesn't allow for comments.
Karma
The RJ bent so much to the retard Teabagger right that they are probably losing revenue from the MAJORITY in Clark County that voted overwhelmingly for Harry Reid!
Couldn't happen to a better bunch!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Public airwaves. The Government owns the frequencies kenneth. Just like the airspace, you can't fly a kite at McCarren.
The Bonanza Buildings are a public nuisance, like someone running a toxic waste dump next to a day care.
Hey, it was the Arkansas banjo pickers that canned your 'hams,": don't blame it on me.
I'm so happy, ho ho, hum, hum, hee hee hee...
Maybe they'll get Angle to replace the Cowboy Hat? They can have a "coloring book edition" with a free box of Crayons!!
It will be interesting to see if the R-J replaces their pollster.
Personal comment: Good riddance.
Reality: They're just re-arranging the furniture on the Titanic...
The Gray lady is going down.
Observation: mred is called out for wanting to take private property and "repurpose" it for the "community" and then answers questions not asked.
We're not talking about "frequencies"; in your own anonymous words, we're talking about printing presses and buildings. You suggested taking buildings and printing presses from private ownership and giving them over to some "community" use. That is scary; I doubt you could find one elected official who would support such radical redistribution of private property.
Further, "the government" does NOT own broadcast frequencies; the FCC administers them for the public. Get up to speed.
It's about time.........
I'm just glad the powers that be saw how harmful those two (Frederick and Mitchell) were to the R-J. and finally decided to make a change. I just hope it isn't too little too late. Ultimately my biggest wish would be to one day see the Sun revived as a full size daily and that the curtains would close on the R-J. I always liked coming home from work and finding the Sun on my doorstep. It was always a much better paper than the R-J and I was very disappointed to see it reduced to second fiddle as a supplement to the RJ.
"Ferguson said the personnel moves have nothing to do with the recent election coverage. 'The changes had nothing to do with the election,' he said."
Correct me if I'm wrong, but this statement by Mr. Mitchell seems unsolicited. It appears from all indications he wasn't asked this directly. But he brought it up.
Which means it's probably true and is exactly opposite of what he said.
Highly suspect. But I could be wrong.
I don't see any changes going to happen though. We're talking the Las Vegas Review Journal...the newspaper the fishy righties love, but the lefties love to wrap fish with.
A reporting mechanism that is so slanted to the right that, when constantly churning out reporting conservative matters, they can easily be referred to as the Triple A News Agency...in that they get ALL the news ALL wrong ALL the time.
I'll believe it when I see it if they change right handed to left handed...or even ambidextrous. More like they will go even farther to the right that they end up permanently crosseyed or something.
I've been reading the r-j for only five years and those two have seemed to be getting progressively more right-wing-elitist (or "uppity") with each passing day.
When they endorsed Sharron Angle I thought "WTF! These guys need to go"--that seemed a rather risky episode of pandering to the "lowest common denominator" because it was hard for me to believe that any intelligent person (Mr. Frederick and Mr. Mitchell are undoubtedly intelligent) could seriously think that Ms. Angle would be a better choice for Nevada than Mr. Reid.
So....
Judy--yes, it is about time...
and
ksand99--yes, karma is a beautiful thing
Been away all day. Just read this news.
Disoriented ... stunned, dizzy. Almost as good Harry Reid winning ... almost.
Ding dong the witches are demoted (and that's a damn good thing!) Sometimes capitalism gets it right..
I hear the next stop is to stop delivering this paper with theirs? any truth to that?
Here's the weird thing about this change in leadership:
Just a few days ago, the RJ released a poll they commissioned that stated that 100% of the Publishers and Editors in Chief of the RJ thought they would have a job come next week.
Guess that poll was wrong. I'm sure that's the first time THAT'S happened to the RJ recently...
Oh, and I would frame this article and hang it on my living room wall if it only consisted of these sentences:
"As for whether Mitchell was demoted, Ferguson advised the Sun to contact Mitchell. Mitchell answered but hung up the phone when a Sun reporter identified himself. On a second call, Mitchell hung up again."
And for those Republicans who are crying over the fact that liberals are celebrating this news, get it straight: when bad people who spread misinformation to the masses get canned, we all win. Well, unless you WANT lies spread around...
Committing FRAUD with polls these days will get a person some bad karma, it seems! LoL!
Nice to see the tolerance that libs are famous for....
Sheesh...
This was a business decision and nothing more. Perhaps the fact that Frederick ruffled Democrats' political feathers had a negative impact on ad revenue. That still makes this a business decision, ultimately. Mitchell's demotion clearly is a result of the new publisher's desire to install his own management team. If they were being punished for their Reid witch hunt, both would be unemployed or "retired." As it is, both men still have a place in the pages of the newspaper.
Remember that, while you call for the demise of the newspaper, it is a business that employees hundreds of Las Vegans. Many of them are good people and don't deserve to be out of work any more than you do.
"Karma is a beautiful thing."
Indeed - the fools don't deserve a free press (rather: what has been left of it).
The paper was not making money. Advertising revenue down. End of story.
But this one made, if you looked at the media matters/Soros ads posted recently here.
Bye Bye Tom and Mitch: now you will enjoy the wonderfous feeling of being thrown out of a job. Don't you wish you belonged to a UNION now? For so many years both of you have hammered on teachers, public education and have ranted on about firing teachers. Welcome to the class of unemployed. Have fun looking for a big shot job now! Maybe you could apply at the CCSD on Flamingo Road; I hear they have a need for teachers and since both of you bleieve anyone can teach, why don't you give it a try!
Stevens Media still wants to get Reid - Cut-up and the Cowboy are out because THEY DIDN'T get Reid, and NOT because they TRIED. Stevens will be back in two years to help trash pro-education candidates in the 2012 election, just wait.
Sherm still has talent, but unfortunately, he has to grab his head with both hands and pull straight down just to see daylight.
How they are ever going to see the daylight, since the pro-education candidates they trash, aren't going to teach them, how to write between the lines and expose President Diebold?
Frederick III and Cowboy Tom have been punked but what about Vinnie Sue? He's the third stooge and Sherm's favorite boot licker but so far no mention of his demotion.
Maybe the owners are afraid that Vinnie, an avid arsenal-collecting Rambo wannabe, will go 2nd Amendment remedy if he's publicly humiliated.
Hey dave202,
Stop confusing liberals with conservatives. Conservatives are the ones who have tolerated Sherm, Thomas, and their right-wing lies for two decades. Liberals are the ones who have been throwing their lies back in their faces the whole time. You may think its proper to tolerate lies printed by powerful people in newspapers and that people in that paper's community should be quiet and just take it, but that's neither the liberal, nor American, way. Good riddance. Maybe this fella from Berkley will finally provide some balance to the paper. I KNOW the employees at the RJ were overjoyed to see those two go yesterday.
Looks like the wheels have come off the right-wing propaganda machine. Maybe the R-J will become less slanted and report news true to the feeds they get. If you ever compared the "news" stories to internet text, you'd find countless instances of words added, words omitted -- even whole paragraphs deleted to make the "liberals" look foolish. As one earlier commenter noted: "You reap what you sow."
Thank you, Stevens Media. I'll renew my R-J subscription now.
who the hell would read the r-j???
Sherman Fredrick is a man that has no journalistic integrity. Any publisher of a newspaper that thinks its good that a candidate for a major national office not talk to the media, is morally bankrupt.
He put his political ideology well ahead of the job of putting out a newspaper. There was no way that I was going to believe a word that newspaper said about any political issue, because Fredrick abandoned any concept of journalism.
This is HUGE news. Mitch and Sherm were just running amok over there, doing and saying whatever they pleased with little to no regard for facts, political relationships, or journalistic integrity. It will be interesting to see if the R-J can become a real newspaper now with some journalistic chops and a little balance.
Thanks for the link CynicalObserver. Nice article.
After the rebuild of the LVRJ website, I gave up trying to blog. Being the house liberal was tough enough, but when nobody can even find you, you eventually give up. Well, I'm not going to give in. I'm resuming my blog on the RJ and will do my best to give voice to the middle class issues, not just an echo from the left. I hope some of you will stop by and leave a comment. I'm back.
http://blogs.reviewjournal.com/author/wa...
Most preposterous lead and claim of the week, if not the month: "It took just one year for us to knock Sherman Frederick from his high post." I don't support Sherm or his politics, and I think he may well rank as one of the worst newspaper publishers in history, but for a former Review-Journal reporter, and a pretty good one at that, to make that claim, puts her in about the same league as Sherm: http://www.lvjournalreview.com/component....
As I said earlier, I believe it's mostly about business, or the lack of it and management at the RJ, and clearly lack of those skills. It would be disappointing to me if a newspaper, even the RJ, were to bow to the pressure of politicians.
The RJ has many good reporters and the big question for me now is whether or not they're going to get better, and go after stories that might have been spiked under Frederick's tenure.
My guess is that Sherm and Mitchell went way too far out on a limb in supporting Angle during the last election. A constant barrage of anti-Reid editorials, skewed news reporting and push polls probably cost the RJ some readership among the people of Clark county which overwhelmingly voted for Reid. The business people are probably angry and sacked them both. This is a lesson in this for the RJ..you probably don't have to be neutral, but you can't be extremist and right wingnutty like FOX news!!
@murrayburns:
" It would be disappointing to me if a newspaper, even the RJ, were to bow to the pressure of politicians."
murray, we don't know the reason they were sacked/demoted but one thing's for sure: when the boss at Nevada's largest newspaper writes an editorial saying that MGM (state's largest employer) and Harrah's (2nd largest employer) in effect stole the election, such accusations (backed up with no evidence mind you) will raise a few eyebrows.
Then there was the blaring headlines based on flawed polling showing Angle pulling away coupled with Sherm's obsessive, decades-long hatred for Harry Reid -- all that added up to a management team that was both unprofessional an juvenile.
For many this is an early Christmas gift!
you're right, mburns --- Erin is awfully full of herself on this one.
This is probably simple math --- Sherm and Mitchell alienating their customer base = fired.
While I haven't seen a hard copy of the RJ for some time I'd think that MGM would be hard pressed to spend their $$ there. I'd also think that a RJ sales rep would have a tough time convincing a Hispanic shop owner to put his money down.
To the circ situation? Well, it's hard to piss on over half the population of the Valley and it not have consequences.
I'll give the new management a few weeks then look at the print version and see what's changed. Hopefully it raises the bar and gets itself together.
Maybe, just maybe, the R-J will no longer be a right-wing propaganda yellow rag. Nah, that would mean the R-J would have to fire half the writers and demote the rest.
It was good to read that the Arkansas owners may finally seeing the light.
Looks like their dogma got run over by karma. Couldn't have happened to two more hypocritical and deceitful men. Well, yes - it could have. But Glen Cook got spared for the moment. But if he's smart, he is sending his resume out. Don't let the door hit you on the way out, you lying sacks.
Last_Throes/VegasTom: Ain't speculation grand. We'd all like to know the "real" reasons behind the what? We can't call it a "management change," because there was no management. I think most everyone's ideas in this section probably played a role in the terminations in one way or another.
My hope is that with the change, we'll see a moderation of the RJ's political position. Whether it's left or right doesn't matter to me, just that it becomes more rational. And, that we'll see a better newspaper, maybe even one that has the good editorial sense to run Page One local stories in the print edition (though I don't buy it).
I do wonder if that sort of change will take place, however. After all, there was a single story on the change and I would have expected some sort of sidebar or separate on what it means to the paper, the community and readers.
I prefer the Las Vegas Sun on all levels, but I think it's good for the community to have competing newspapers.
As long as a publication is in the pocket of their advertisers we will never get the truth. Between Stephens and Greenspun we won't get real truths on everything - just the stuff their advertisers don't care about. That has to change so I've put out a call to sales people and start something new. I've done it in a tiny community and can certainly do it here. It's time we have media with more than a bottom line philosophy - it can be done.
Here is my November 2, 9:07 PM comment in response to an Article about Reid winning:
"Hey Sherm! Sherm! It's time to sue yourself for quoting yourself in your own paper...I JUST checked with the bus station, they got an express bus leaving for Arkansas...
Guess they'll have to fire you bozos for not doing your job. You were supposed to get that nutcase elected."
That's just one of them.
First of all not all the employees "canned or demoted" have health issues.
Secondly, the way these changes were enacted was slimy. It was bad for company morale.
Third, going on the "Alan Stock Republican News Show," to "explain" the changes is in the same mode as "Sherm & Company," not a "new direction."
The "RJ Headliners" on KXNT should be eliminated if they expect the public (50% of the voters went for Reid BTW) to look at the RJ differently.
I always thought that Las Vegas is a Communist Kolkhoz (Collective.
Sherm's ouster proves it.
This move will probably align both Las Vegas Leftist papers in a more Leftist direction.
The Brookings Mountain West crowd must be ticked pink with this ouster.
We need to beware of the Thought Police in the future.
Printing presses may become today's buggy whips. Kindle anyone???
Look at local talk radio, compared to other U.S. radio markets, the 6 Vegas talk stations have bad ratings. Usually most markets an AM talk Station is in the top 3 to 5 stations in terms of English language radio stations. LA, SF, Phoenix, Dallas, Sacramento, etc. Vegas, KXNT barely breaks the top 10 and Kdumb, makes a slight showing (after tons of money dumped by Beasley Broadcasting) the rest have dinky ratings.
We see the same stubborn right-wing dynamic with these talk stations as we do with the RJ.
Teaparty people don't spend much, nor the talk radio crowd. Look what is advertised: sex-pills, work at home schemes, weight loss junk, software back-up plans for dummies, survival food, etc. All high profit products and services to cover the cost of the ads.
Do you think the beans counters in Arkansas thought that "the right-wing demographic" may not be the biggest spenders in Vegas?
I hope MSNBC covers the "Las Vegas print media bloodbath" story on Monday.
That's another thing, timing? Why Friday at 5 PM? Also, why was the Cowboy Hat so nasty when asked about what was going on? To a fellow Journalist? Just trying to get a story?
@ mburns... Ain't speculation grand.
lol --- yes it is. But the reality of the owner of the rag is that he's a dollar and cents man. Dig too far into his pocket and he'll react --- no matter the nature of the offense.
I'm sure that there was a cumulative effect in play as well --- and that can hurt no matter whom you are.
I'm missing the commentary of Sargent Crock -- perhaps the RJ changed the passwords on the two cahoona's machines? (tee-hee)
SCHNORCHEL...".. Las Vegas is a Communist Kolkhoz" you really believe that? WOW..I'm speechless at the right wingnuttery!
vegas_tom..I think that Sgt. CRock is having a complete mental breakdown after his beloved Sherm got sacked.
Good point, also look at the organizational structure as someone pointed out. A few high paid rabid do-nothings at the top, and a small number of underlings. An hour-glass not a pyramid.
Actually, the RJ case might become a great case study for a Business and Journalism School. What not to do of course.
The true test for the RJ is if subscriptions go up or down. I suspect if a liberal slant takes place subscriptions will go down. It the Sun could have survived going alone they would have done that. Too many liberals don't want to pay for a service, they want someone else to pay, like I'm paying today for the Sun through my RJ subscription. If the RJ would put Dilbert in the comic section I would never look at the Sun. Good luck Libs, let's see if management drops the Sun and lets the RJ grow and prosper. If they turn left, so long!
Sacking Frederick and Mitchell is a good start by Stephens media in restoring some integrity and rebuilding the RJ's reputation.
The next logical step should be to sever any ties with Righthaven and Steven Gibson. The devious, underhanded scam Frederick and Gibson engaged in to shake down people probably did as much damage to the RJ as Mitchell's and Frederick's extremism.
DesertFox: Righthaven may well have been one of the levers. First the $300k, and who knows how much more. Beyond that, transfering the organizations "highly valuable" copyrights to Righthaven....well, you know the story.
My view is very simple: It is a poorly managed and edited daily publication that is the largest in the state, yet alienated, as someone here said, a large portion of the population and made itself a joke in the industry because of a very inept, angry and seemingly mentally unbalanced publisher who was unable to generate revenues.
To you, Sherm, Good Riddance and I have absolutely no sympathies for you. Oh, to return to the days of pillories and stocks.
Some ubiquitous posters are noticably absent from this forum. Could all of the flack have been coming from the top of the R-J?
To the Trusted Commenters:
Thanks for giving me an interesting hour or so of reading material. Your comments have been some of the most insightful that I've seen in a long time.
Let's all hope the Review Journal gets better in terms of editorial content, that all remaining employees keep their jobs and be serene and that their families be healthy and happy.
HA HA HA Thomas Mitchell. I've waited 10 years to see this. Mitchell made a habit of telling people who wanted to run for even the lowest of public offices, he would give them no publicity because they had no name recognition. His pompus atempt to control who ran for office has FINALLY caught up with him and bites him in his BIG FAT BUTT!
Cynical-Well put.
I know several of the employees at the RJ-not the reporters, but the front line working class folks who make sure that the ink and paper Sherm didn't have to pay sales tax on gets out to the masses every day.
Those folks have been embarassed, their word, not mine, by their editorial page for years. Kudos to them for putting up with so much for so long. I hope the loyalty they have shown is rewarded with a new editorial staff that recognizes the hard work the working class performs every day instead of spending its time supporting union-busting efforts.
Sherman Fredrick a Beneficiary of OBAMACARE?
Given Mr. Fredrick's pre-existing medical conditions, is the RJ/Stephens going to give him full medical coverage for just writing a column and being a consultant. (What is he going to consult on? How to lose elections?)
If not, then he will have to extend his Medical under "Cobra" another government program (insurance mandate Sherm, like the kind you and your paper didn't like.)
What about Mitchell? height to weight, etc. can he get a private medical policy?
Maybe that's why the Arkansas Clan gave them the "make work jobs?" TO keep giving them medical coverage?
I guess the average slob doesn't get that kind of deal to keep their medical insurance.
Or is Sherm old enough for Medicare? Of course that is a government program and Sherm is against that kind of thing.
In your first make-work consulting "column" please explain to the readers how you are going to get medical care for the rest of your life? Given your "pre-existing conditions."
Sherm also said he didn't floss his teeth in a column he wrote. Some medical research says this can lead to heart problems. Now he wants government to pay for his mistakes???
Wouldn't it be nice if Warren Buffet bought the Las Vegas R-J and turned it into a real newspaper?
I just took a tour of the RJ's Letters page. Not one letter commenting on the shocking change at the top for the biggest newspaper in the valley. For all of the rightwing dolts that make up the responding public that is the RJ's acolytes, this must seem to be a very horrible ordeal to go through. After all, their guiding lights (other than Limpballs, HanNAZI, Beckhead, et.al.) are no longer around to feed them the lies upon which their ideology depends. I say it is Karma, just like Earl's. The evil you do will come back to haunt you. Now if we could just get Glenn Cook and Rooty Toot Root to endure the ignobility of the unemployment line , everything would be perfect. Oh,I forgot, Rooty Toot still has his gig shilling for a local ambulance chasing firm to keep him out of the poor house. I have seen little from Doyen or Future or JanK or SgtRock or Rusty57 or gogo or Larry on the events of the day. I wonder why?
"The newspaper, whose circulation grew with the city's population although never quite as quickly"
This coming from the Sun.....which circulation became so bad that it had to become an insert into the LVRJ just to stay in business.
SGTRock, Mitchell was his own shill. He's gone. Ha, Ha,HA!! He controlled Nevada politics at every level with his arrogrance! Good BYE!! Maybe HE can run for dog catcher to keep HIS medical benefits. Karma, it works again!
that the best you could do sarge? pretty lame.
but what does it say about the RJ that they took the Sun's money to distribute their offering? that the RJ will do anything for a nickle? or maybe they're trying to provide at least some quality content within the RJ wrapper?
you seem connected to the RJ, sarge --- which is it?
lmao.
While I wrote letters to the editor over the years about editorials, what the editorial page said and says never has mattered or will matter as much as whether the R-J's editorial views affect the news coverage. Those views have skewed news coverage for several years. This year, that came back to bite the R-J on the fanny when its publisher and editor were not merely biased but dishonest in their attempts to defeat Harry Reid. If I'm Stephens Media's corporate bosses, I say, they threw everything they had at Reid and he WON? What use are they?
I will call your BS, Green.
Can you name of news article of the LVRJ where the editorial affected news coverage as a proven fact?
Hmmmmm....either that makes you an idiot or a dishonest person?
Either one would fit.
Hate & vitriol, lies & deceit...
NOT a great game plan for Newspapermen.
Is Vin next to go. . . ?
Nobody here said they stopped reading the RJ because of its political bias. But many of us have said we stopped going to the RJ site because of the Righthaven lawsuits. Many also said they wrote to RJ advertisers telling them the same.
It's been a couple of weeks since the last story about Righthaven.
I'd say that had more to do with the shakeup than the election coverage.
I was really surprised about the shakeup at the RJ. I've become so accustom to media sources being so extremely biased that I thought the RJ had just become a classic example of the ultra conservative newspaper.
It's nice to know that the RJ has been reminded that those of us who are a bit more liberal can read too.
"Hate & vitriol, lies & deceit...
NOT a great game plan for Newspapermen."
Are you talking about this "news article" or the Sun in general?
Amicus, The next to go are Laura Myers, Ben Spillman, and John Smith. If the SUN wants them they are going cheap! They only have to match Dingy Harry's under the table payments.
> They only have to match Dingy Harry's under the table payments.
so you're saying that Myers, Spillman and Smith were / are getting under the table payments from Reid while working for the RJ? That's probably what Sherm got fired.
And Sarge --- are you smoking crack, or do you forget the innuendo laced bog entries by Sherm inferring that Reid was in poor health, that MGM forced its employees to vote for Reid, that his push polls were legit? How could you forget them? they cost you your lofty position in Valley publishing --- not to mention that all of those just happened within the last month. I guess they do say the first thing to go is the mind.
LOL!
Maybe now they will release Norm from his duties.
Then all the Vegas wanna-be's like Clinton, Marino and Jacobs who make it a career calling Norm to get their name mentioned in his column can begin a new life after surviving major withdraws of realizing no one cares about them.
I'm sort of disappointed --- I was expecting the new RJ publisher to print his roadmap to greatness today. But all we got is crickets. what's with that?
vegas_tom: I agree. I expected something along those lines.
Sinister Harry Reid agents are behind this.. you betcha..
:-)
How many people have employers that give them "make work" part time jobs that keep their medical insurance active? That's why Sherm and Company don't care about the average Joe and their medical insurance problems.
With his pre-existing medical conditions, Sherm is Uninsurable as an individual.
It is clear that the RJ is a poorly run business. For all the talk of the "private sector," the RJ fails as a money making endeavor, as a newspaper and as a political tool to dump Harry Reid.
What has the RJ done right?
I predict that Sherm and the Cowboy Hat will be completely removed from the RJ by the end of next year.
"It is clear that the RJ is a poorly run business."
So that makes the daily that is inserted into the LVRJ an extremely poorly run business.
Oh Sarge: You're as trite and illogical as Sherm. First, who cares whether it's inserted in the RJ, save that it makes it a little more difficult to find. Second, with a paid circulation of under 200,000, it's reasonable to say that both papers are read equally in the print version. Third, and more importantly, the print editions don't seem to matter much in these days of the Internet. The RJ, while it significantly improved its website design better get on the ball and improve the quality of stories there because that's where the news business is going.
At the end of the day, Sarge, your guy lost and lost in a major league way. He was a poor publisher and he was tossed. Maybe it was the rants about Harry Reid, maybe the Righthaven suits or maybe it was that he ran a newspaper that was once quite good into the ground with articles that were slanted politically, a blog and editorials that were not only poorly written, but made little sense and just a plain bitter personality as portrayed by his writing.
As I said before here, I hope Brown takes a more measured view of things, hires a good editor and runs a newspaper that serves the public, rather than one used for the self-aggrandization of the publisher.
>So that makes the daily that is inserted into the LVRJ an extremely poorly run business.
the RJ is using the Sun to prop up their very weak offering. I mean the Sun's a numerous award winning paper --- with a Pulitzer as the icing on the cake. Not to mention the almost clairvoyant Jon Ralston on politics. It's a service the RJ provides to their more intellectual readers so they can have a reason to keep the RJ coming to the house.
But it leads me to ask --- is your face always twisted up with all them sour grapes you are constantly chewing on?
> You're as trite and illogical as Sherm.
there's an _excellent_ reason for that.
"the RJ is using the Sun to prop up their very weak offering."
You are about as clueless as a monkey in a cheese store.
The Sun under the umbrella of law that deal with monopolies strong-armed LVRJ with the insert deal just to stay alive as a paper.
It was the Sun that presented the deal to the LVRJ and not the other way around.
At least research something before talking out of your butt.
Ah, Sarge, you're so far off topic and since you've lost your sponsor, why not just admit you're either Sherm or shilling for him.
No one cares that the Sun is rolled into the RJ. They care about the higher and more professional level of journalism in the Sun, as well as its editors.
I don't know that I've ever seen a publisher summarily fired from a newspaper, whatever the reason. Maybe there have been a few, but none who broke the ethics of journalism so broadly as did Frederick.
There's a real difference in taking an opposing position to a politician, especially one in "the world's most exclusive club," and issuing statements that are at least borderline libel and at the other end of the spectrum, completely disrespectful to any member of that body.
The nation watched as you/Sherm crashed and burned. He was and remains a disgrace to the news business. That will be his or your legacy.
> You are about as clueless as a monkey in a cheese store.
lol --- that's the Sarge I know. insults as the lead.
> At least research something before talking out of your butt.
what was that again? Angle +5?
lmao --- if only you'd done that maybe you wouldn't be the punchline of a bunch of great jokes now.
<chuckling> -- look at what happens when you say the word "Ralston". how very Pavlovian.
;)
Wouldn't it be nice if everytime the Republicans won, we could fire the top brass of any major media outlet.
Ah, to dream.
Nevada is exactly where Michigan was eight years ago EXCEPT with a Republican governor. You have a chance, but just a change not to replicate the Michigan "experience." Good luck to you.
Say "hi" to the President next time he visits.
As Sean Trende noted, the voting demographics coming out of Nevada showed a much stronger showing of latinos voting than in previous elections.
LaRaza will be proud. They can steal elections as good as they do in Chicago. Photo ID anyone?
>>what was that again? Angle +5?<<
lmao.
The Righties will never live this down. Karma.
I hope the Sun publishes under it's own name, I would buy a subscription then.
I cancelled the RJ because of those idiots - I told the representative if they needed funding, maybe they could get Rove to subscribe, but I certainly wasn't going to be funding the right-wing fringe any longer.
a friend down at the RJ called this morning to report 2 things....
1) Sherm's furniture is packed up and sitting by the loading dock doors.
2) despite not really knowing what the future holds the mood in the news room is much improved.
there were other rumor and innuendo items, but I'll leave that stuff for pros like Sherm to dish out.
I did ask why we didn't get a bit from the new publisher over the weekend and was told, "he's a salesman he doesn't know how to write". great.
The RJ doesn't seem to have changed much since the publisher was removed. I was hoping to see a further statement from the new publisher on editorial direction or change under new management. Maybe we'll just have to wait until they bring in a new editor.
Great move, I miss getting the R-J/LV Sun delivered, I canceled soon after the election because of Sherman Frederick's politics after getting the paper delivered the last 20 years..
Monday I will call and renew my subscription...
Good business move and an even better move when it comes to removing Sherman Frederick and his vitriolic rhetoric...
I also read that the R-J has hired Steve Sebelius, another good move...