Review-Journal circulation plummets; ACLU attacks FBI 'Veritas' raid, Assange wins. Media matters

Media outlets large and small were making news themselves recently, as the ACLU put out a blistering statement condemning the FBI's raid of 'Project Veritas' founders James O'Keefe's home. Across the Atlantic Ocean, the maligned and persecuted Julian Assange, publisher of Wikileaks, won a major personal victory from the courts, and locally, attention was brought to the fact that the fast fading Clark County daily, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, saw a massive drop in its publication numbers.

After days of silence, and withering criticism from mainstream news outlets, the American Civil Liberties Union finally issued a rebuke of the Bureau's actions in their search for evidence relating to the Ashley Biden Diary saga. The esteemed organization, a longtime defender of Constitutional principles and the Constitution itself, went as far as to state the suggested government overreach and disregard for both journalistic independence and the right to privacy has "...serious consequences for press freedom."

In London, Mr. Assange, who has been enduring inhumane conditions inside of a British penitentiary while battling extradition to the United States, was given the right to marry his fiancé despite his detainment. Recently revealed to have been the target of an assassination plot by the CIA Mr. Assange and his future bride, Stella Morris, will see their nuptials take place inside the walls of Belmarsh Prison.

Within the Las Vegas news and media world, an embarrassing number, seemingly hidden from the public was uncovered by the intrepid writer, William P. Barrett. In an extensive write up from last week, Mr. Barrett pointed out a staggering 19% drop in the circulation numbers of the once esteemed Review-Journal. In sending Political.tips a copy of the legal notice containing the Review-Journal's numbers, Barrett's assertion made in his column relating to the former paper of record and it's waning impact seems to be proven by their own accounting.

(poor quality, hyper enlarged, image of the RJ's small print circulation numbers)

The Vegas Valley with its plethora of non-profit media options, led by the esteemed 'The Nevada Independent' and to a lesser extent the 'Nevada Current', is proof that journalism, harsh, deep, and factual, still exists in Nevada and elsewhere. As long as the government allows the free press to function as intended, and the courts, government watchdogs and clear minded citizens rally around the First Amendment, traditional media outlets, and their rapidly dwindling financial fortunes, will ultimately prove to be irrelevant in the reporting and dissemination of news that matters.