Michael E. Schroeder, the manager of the company that purchased The Las Vegas Review-Journal last month, who became the focus of intense scrutiny after the sale, is no longer involved with the newspaper.
Schroeder, the publisher of small newspapers in Connecticut, is no longer the manager of the News & Media Capital Group, the company through which the billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and his family bought The Review-Journal for $140 million, a spokesman for Adelson confirmed on Monday.
"Mr. Schroeder has, and will have, no continuing role with regard to The Las Vegas Review Journal," Mark Fabiani, the spokesman, said in an emailed statement.
The news that Schroeder had been removed as manager of the paper was first reported by The Review-Journal.
The revelation came just hours after the staff of The Review-Journal met with David J. Butler, the executive editor of The Providence Journal, who was brought in by management to discuss guidelines on how to cover Adelson and his corporate interests, according to a reporter at the meeting. The Providence Journal and The Review-Journal are managed by GateHouse Media, a subsidiary of the New Media Investment Group.
One editor, Stephanie Grimes, tweeted during the meeting that Butler said he was concerned about the paper looking like it was "out to get our owner."
She also tweeted that Butler said: "Let me just say my first hope would be you never see Mr. Schroeder again."
Reached by text, Schroeder referred questions to Fabiani.
The identity of The Review-Journal's buyer had been kept private for several days after the sale was announced on Dec. 10. But Schroeder's name was listed in documents for the ownership company, which was incorporated in Delaware in September, and he was introduced to the newsroom as the company's manager.
The lack of transparency prompted the paper's staff — and journalists from news organizations across the country — to look closely at Schroeder and his possible connections to the Adelson family.
On Dec. 18, The Review-Journal reported that, when Adelson was in talks to buy the newspaper, its journalists were asked to observe three local judges. One was Elizabeth Gonzalez, who is handling a lawsuit filed in 2010 against Adelson and his casino company by a former employee.
At the end of November, an article that was critical of Gonzalez appeared in The New Britain Herald, one of Schroeder's Connecticut papers. The article, which carried the byline Edward Clarkin, also ran in another of Schroeder's papers, The Bristol Press.
No one named Edward Clarkin lives in Connecticut, according to public records, and the article appeared to use fabricated quotes. The Review-Journal subsequently reported that Schroeder's middle name was Edward, and his mother's maiden name was Clarkin.
New York Times journalist Ravi Somaiya contributed to this report.