Ryan Chittum of The Columbia Journalism Review writes Tuesday about how The Wall Street Journal has kept reporter Kate O’Keefe covering Sheldon Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands despite the fact that Adelson is suing her for libel for calling him a “a scrappy, foul-mouthed billionaire from working-class Dorchester, Mass.,” in a story.
Chittum writes, “The WSJ and O’Keeffe have had some good scoops on the serious federal corruption investigations into Las Vegas Sands—reporting Adelson presumably didn’t like.
“By keeping O’Keeffe on the beat, the Journal is telling Adelson (and future lawsuit-happy folks) that it won’t be bullied into soft-pedaling coverage and that it won’t let him control who covers him and his company. Reassigning O’Keeffe would have effectively let him do that.
“The Journal and O’Keeffe get the benefit of the doubt on their objectivity regarding Adelson and his casino company. She’s a pro, and everything has to go through editors anyway.
“The WSJ is doing exactly the right thing here.”
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