The family of billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson confirmed in a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal that they're the new owners of Nevada's largest newspaper.
The Adelsons were widely speculated to be the new owners, but it wasn’t confirmed until Wednesday.
The newspaper’s staff, media observers around the country and even politicians had demanded to know the name of the new boss.
According to the Adelson family, they were going to announce the purchase but decided to hold back because of the Republican presidential debate, which took place at the Venetian Hotel-Casino.
At the debate, Adelson told CNN that he had “no personal interest” in owning the paper.
David Folkenflik, NPR's media correspondent, covered the effort to find the owner's identityand talked to KNPR's State of Nevada about implications of the Adelson family's ownership.
"He's really started his ownership in a terribly, perilous way, in a kind of crisis," Folkenflik said, "If it's not one that is registered by him and by the leaders on the business side then they're missing their mark."
Folkenflik believes the reporters and editors at the paper have acted admirably in trying to bring to light the information and point out the problems with not revealing who owns the paper.
However, he pointed out that sources at the paper told him that the publisher Jason Taylor reviewed every article about the purchase of the paper and the Adelsons possible involvement.
Folkenflik also said he was told Taylor took out significant chunks of those articles.
"And if Mr. Taylor doesn't understand that that in some ways compromises the trust that readers can have in this newspaper during an age when newspapers are financially imperiled then he's not paying attention," Folkenflik said.
Folkenflik said he doesn't believe Adelson has an urge to be a newspaper owner, but that he sees himself as a major civil leader who wants to shape the city and the state.
"I think he wanted to own the most important paper in the city and the state where he has so much financial interest and so much political influence," he said.
However, Folkenflik said moving forward the owners and managers need to be more clear.
"I think your listeners and its readers deserve to know from here on out how the newspaper's owners and how the newspaper's managers intend to run the shop." he said.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report)
David Folkenflik, NPR
