New editor of R-J, J. Keith Moyer, with interim editor Glenn Cook looking on.
May you work at an interesting place. A curse? Or a blessing?
At noon Friday the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported online that the new publisher had named a new editor. This was an hour after two of the paper’s reporters had tweeted the news with photos of the new editor in the courtyard introducing himself and six minutes after the “competition” Las Vegas Sun posted the news online.
A half hour later, the R-J posted online an editorial endorsement of Marco Rubio for the Republican nomination for the presidency. This included a rather odd disclaimer:
The RJ met with Sen. Rubio on Oct. 9, two months before the announcement of the newspaper’s sale to the family of Las Vegas Sands Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson. The Adelsons have detached themselves from our endorsement process, and our endorsement of Sen. Rubio does not represent the support of the family.
Since when has anyone known Adelson to detach himself from anything?
Though the endorsement is online, it has not been published in print, which will probably come in the more widely circulated Sunday edition. Why it was published before the new editor could shake the Minnesota snowflakes from his hair is another oddity.
On Oct. 12 Politico published a story about Rubio courting Adelson for his support, phoning him several times a month to update him on his campaign. Rubio met with Adelson during that Las Vegas visit and Politico described Adelson as “leaning increasingly toward supporting Marco Rubio …”
It also stated, “Adelson, seated at the head of his conference table, heaped praise on Rubio’s performance while he discussed the dynamics of the 2016 race. Those briefed on the meeting described it as short but said it had an air of importance …”
On Jan. 10 The Hill reported, “Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson has joked privately that he belongs to a divided household: He likes Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and his wife Miriam likes Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.”
The story reports that Adelson and his wife spent nearly $100 million supporting Republicans in 2012, a chunk of it going to Newt Gingrich.
Despite the claim of detachment, most of the headlines about the endorsement of Rubio made note of the fact Adelson owns the newspaper.
As for the new editor, J. Keith Moyer — senior fellow in the University of Minnesota’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication for the past five years and president and publisher of the Minneapolis Star Tribune from 2001 to 2007 and editor for Gannett and McClatchy — there is a surprisingly small online footprint.
A search for “by J. Keith Moyer” turns up a laudatory review of a book by former Star Tribune editor Tim McGuire, who I know from American Society of Newspaper Editors conventions, and a recommendation for cocktail onions.
There is a rather disquieting report online by a former desk editor who worked with Moyer in Fresno and claims Moyer killed stories about the troubled Fresno State basketball team coached by Jerry Tarkanian and expressed a willingness to bury ledes to curry favor with local government.
Here’s to interesting times at an interesting place to work.
4TH ST8 
“presstitutes”
We have a new word!
Not a new word. At about 2:00:
Gatehouse CEO throws R-J reporters under the bus:
http://newsonomics.com/with-gatehouse-newspaper-chain-on-the-hot-seat-ceo-mike-reed-responds/
Guessing this news won’t get much coverage at the “new” RJ. Course, it wouldn’t have got much at the old Raj either so, the more things change….
http://mashable.com/2016/02/05/arctic-sea-ice-hits-record-low-for-january/
From 2014, also failed to make the RJ.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/oct/09/why-is-antarctic-sea-ice-at-record-levels-despite-global-warming
Strange to hear nothing about it since…..hmm
Pete Seeger…wow, this an old problem….
http://neptune.gsfc.nasa.gov/csb/index.php?section=234
I guess main stream news and extreme blogs don’t want to talk about it.
The more things change, the more things stay the same.
http://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/15/us/tobacco-chiefs-say-cigarettes-aren-t-addictive.html?pagewanted=all
Bet this got PLENTY of coverage at the “old” RJ back in the day. Probably telling folks how “the science is divided”, or some such nonsense.
I stopped smoking while on active duty in the Air Force.
Took me one day to go from three packs a day to zero.
No issues at all, haven’t had the erge even for one instant, in the thirty years since.
A mere 4 years later, with these same executives absolutely PANTING to get an industry saving 368 BILLION dollar settlement with the people they had lied to for decades, the same executives found Jesus and admitted that cigarettes were addicting and caused cancer.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1998-01-30/news/9801300087_1_chairman-geoffrey-bible-nicotine-tobacco
We all know the tactics employed by big energy interests with regard to fighting the overwhelming evidence supporting global warming, and the day is soon coming when the oil executives are begging the American public to allow them to settle the damage they have done for TRILLIONS of dollars, and admitting that they knew about it all along.
And all their sycophants will be right there with them claiming that, as they did when they claimed that “everyone knew cigarettes caused cancer”. Instead mockingly suggesting that “everyone knew burning fossil fuels caused global warming.
Oh wait, it’s already happening:
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/08/exxon-climate-change-1981-climate-denier-funding
Yeah, those big bad energy companies have been on the front lines of alternative energy since the 1960’s
They sure are trying to hide something!
Hiding in plain sight the fact that they are divesting, and never really invested, in alternatives. Other than as a feel good publicity campaign designed to appeal to those with little understanding.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/big-oils-big-lies-about-alternative-energy-20130625
Adelson should listen to his wife more, but I guess he wants the cheap labor amnesty would give his business interests.
The enemy isn’t so much the energy companies. They probably believe what they say. After all, half of the American people believe it too. The problem is that people, including energy executives, tend to believe those with easy answers. That’s why governments worldwide tend to borrow great sums of money.
Chevron has the oldest geo thermal plant in the USA. From the 1960s in southern CA.
Yep, they are all just liars right from the very start.
“In 2010, Chevron launched its “We Agree” public relations campaign, with ads announcing “It’s time oil companies get behind the development of renewable energy,” that still run today. Yet Chevron’s alternative investments have been falling as a proportion of its total expenditures, not rising, for years: From 2.5 percent of overall expenditures in 2008, alternative energy dropped to 2.3 percent in 2010 and 1.5 percent in 2012.”
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/big-oils-big-lies-about-alternative-energy-20130625#ixzz3zWg3LuTy
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook
“Just the facts ma’am.”
The whole energy sector has been and remains in, a depression.
The target of that “Rolling Stone” article, covers only one piece of the action.
And, remember when Rolling Stone actually covered music? You know, the stuff they actually something about.
The entire big oil sector of the energy has been, with a brief hiccup over the last few months, in a boom.
And, the article directly addressed, with “just the facts ma’am” YOUR CLAIM , that the industry had, since the 1960’s been investing in alternatives, when the facts are that the entire oil industry has been divesting their already meager investments.
And, I suppose that attacking the source is all that is left, when you can’t argue the facts.
The boom was the hiccup, the depression is being felt all over the world. Just look at the ruble, look at Saudi Arabia.
The ruble so low as to be worthless
Saudis diversifying their economy
These are just two realities among many that Rolling Stone flat out ignores.
You cherry pick just like they do.
You can thank George Mitchell for the boom, not Obama.
Or maybe China’s recent economic issues, or perhaps Obama does deserve some credit because more oil will be flooding the market from Iran, or perhaps we should credit engineers for coming up with ever more efficient planes, cars, buildings and the like. Or maybe Europe and Japan for their sophisticated mass transit capabilities. Plenty of credit to go around.