The editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal “stunned” the newsroom by announcing his departure Tuesday amid the ongoing tumult over the paper’s recent and secret purchase by the family of local casino mogul Sheldon Adelson.
Mike Hengel, who has led the Review-Journal since 2010, is accepting a voluntary buyout, he told staffers this evening. In his remarks, Hengel said his departure “is in my best interest and those of my family,” according to Neal Morton, a reporter at the Review-Journal:
.@mhengel: “I think my resignation probably comes a relief to the new owners, and it is in my best interest and those of my family."
— Neal Morton (@nealtmorton) December 23, 2015
Hengel’s departure came as a surprise to the newsroom, according to several staffers at the Review-Journal who tweeted out the announcement.
Review Journal Editor Mike Hengel announces sudden acceptance of a buyout. Newsroom stunned. pic.twitter.com/BZN5yNKeXH
— Bethany Barnes (@BetsBarnes) December 23, 2015
The sudden exit follows a turbulent period for staffers at the Review-Journal, who have seen their newspaper change hands twice in the same year. In March, the newspaper was purchased by New Media Investment Group, the parent company of newspaper chain GateHouse Media. This month, New Media announced it was selling the newspaper to an unspecified buyer for $140 million.
The anonymous nature of the transaction made waves in the media world, with journalists at the newspaper and elsewhere demanding to know who owned the Review-Journal. In a front-page story last week, the Review-Journal revealed that Adelson, a Las Vegas casino magnate, had orchestrated the purchase with his family.
That story was followed by the disclosure that Review-Journal staffers were asked in November by GateHouse Media brass to snoop on a judge who had jurisdiction in a case involving Adelson. Hengel told reporters at the Review-Journal last week the revelation that Adelson purchased the newspaper prompted him to wonder “what really was behind” the assignment from higher-ups.
“When the request was handed down, it seemed like little more than a waste of time and resources,” Hengel told the Review-Journal. “I still think it was a waste of time, but now I wonder what really was behind it.”
Hengel’s departure comes days after the Review-Journal took the unusual step of publishing a front-page editorial touting its commitment to transparency in the wake of its sale to Adelson. Tomorrow, the Review-Journal will publish yet another editorial on the front page from the Adelson family promising to run a newspaper “that is fair, unbiased and accurate,” according to Morton. The editorial also pledges to institute a series of best practices to ensure unbiased coverage, including the hiring of an ombudsman and “enhanced fact-checking.”
GateHouse Media will select an interim editor while the paper’s new owners select a permanent replacement, according to Morton.