The publisher of two small newspapers in Central Connecticut is receiving national attention as his ties to Las Vegas billionaire Sheldon Adelson are being called into question.
New Britain Herald and Bristol Press publisher and editor Michael Schroeder won’t say why a story critical of a Nevada judge leading a case against one of Adelson’s companies ran in his papers under a mysterious byline.
Speaking on WNPR’s Colin McEnroe Show, NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen said that the ethical issues surrounding a new wave of newspaper ownership have drawn Adelson and Schroeder into the national spotlight.
"There’s nothing inherently bad about a rich person buying a newspaper. That’s gone on for a long time," Rosen said. "What you look for is: does this new owner understand the importance of the independence of the newsroom from his or her own wealth and power?"
Reporter Steve Collins resigned from the Bristol Press last week in protest of his editor's secretive dealings with Adelson, which he said is a violation of journalistic ethics.
"When I saw his name as being out there, I thought that can’t be Michael Schroeder, that makes no sense at all," Collins told WNPR. "And then I saw a picture of him on Twitter and my jaw dropped, I couldn’t believe it."
Collins’s resignation announcement, originally published on Facebook on Christmas Eve, has been shared online thousands of times.
Soon after his resignation, Collins received a $5,000 award from the son of investigative journalist I.F. Stone.
Last week, the small Rhode Island newspaper the Block Island Times ?announced it was being purchased by Schroeder.
