Top Vegas Review-Journal Columnist Resigns Over Adelson

Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist John L. Smith resigned from the newspaper on Tuesday after repeatedly being told not to write about casino owners Steve Wynn and Sheldon Adelson, who recently acquired the outlet. "In Las Vegas, a quintessential company town, it’s the blowhard billionaires and their political toadies who are worth punching. And if you don’t have the freedom to call the community’s heavyweights to account, then that 'commentary' tag isn’t worth the paper on which it’s printed," Smith wrote in a letter explaining his exit to colleagues. Review-Journal editor J. Keith Moyer recently defended the paper's ban on Smith covering Adelson, citing a "conflict of interest" related to the billionaire having previously sued the columnist for libel.