- It’s a strange situation when you’re responsible for making sure your enemy is always there.
For more than 75 years, the newspapers Las Vegas Review-Journal and Las Vegas Sun have been rivals. They’ve been on opposite ends of the political spectrum, and their staffs don’t get along.
But, in a strange quirk, the Review-Journal has printed and distributed the Sun — despite them being enemies.
The two newspapers have been engaged in one of the last remaining joint operating agreements in the U.S. As part of the contract, the Review-Journal has been responsible for making sure its rival paper gets to its readers.
Now, after more than 20 years, that deal has come to an end. Backed by a recent court ruling, the Review-Journal has announced that it will no longer print the Sun.
How did this strange agreement come to be, and why did it unravel? Let’s take a peek at the weird world of print journalism.
What Happened?
First, we should clarify what actually happened recently. On April 3, the Las Vegas Review-Journal printed an editorial announcing that after 21 years, it would no longer print the Las Vegas Sun.
The two had been engaged in a joint operating agreement (JOA) since 1989. As part of the agreement, the Review-Journal would print and distribute the Sun — despite the publications being mortal enemies.
In return, the Review-Journal got to keep all revenue generated by the Sun’s sales. It just had to file a monthly payment to the Sun to cover its news and editorial expenses.
Sound complicated? It is, but you’ll find out why the deal was like this.
In 2019, the Review-Journal took the Sun to court to eliminate the JOA. According to the Review-Journal, the U.S. attorney general never signed a 2005 update to their publishing deal, meaning that the JOA was unlawful and void.
The court case escalated all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which refused to hear the Sun’s appeal. With that, the JOA expired, and the Review-Journal stopped printing the Sun.
How Were the Papers Founded?
The Las Vegas Review-Journal was founded in 1909 (being called the Clark County Review at the time). Over the years, it changed names and absorbed other papers as the publication grew.
In 1950, however, things came to a head as the Review-Journal refused to negotiate with the International Typographical Union. Upset, the typesetter resigned and started their own newspaper: the Las Vegas Sun.
Since then, they’ve been engaging in journalistic warfare in Nevada. The Review-Journal has traditionally been more conservative, while the Sun leans liberal.
Why Were the Papers Printed Together?
Come 1970, the newspaper industry was in a crisis (much like today). Many small papers found themselves unable to fund their existence, including the Sun.
That was a problem, as the internet wasn’t around back then, and people had few options on where to get their news. Consequently, some areas were under threat of falling under single-newspaper monopolies.
This development posed an issue for the free exchange of ideas. So, in 1970, the Richard Nixon administration enacted the Newspaper Preservation Act, aimed at helping newspapers save money and maintain their competition.
One method to make that happen was the JOA. The Review-Journal and the Sun entered into a JOA in 1989, with the former pitching in to save its struggling rival.
According to the initial agreement, the Sun would become an afternoon newspaper on weekdays. During weekends, it would be printed as a section of the Review-Journal’s morning papers.
In 2005, the two papers revised their agreement. This new JOA stipulated that the Sun would be included as an insert within the Review-Journal every morning.
The agreement, as mentioned earlier, apparently wasn’t finalized properly. So, in 2019, the Review-Journal asked the courts to eliminate the JOA, and that’s where we are today.
What Happens Now?
Now that the Review-Journal has stopped printing its rival, what will happen to the Sun? The newspaper’s days aren’t necessarily over, but they will get more difficult.
According to the Review-Journal, it doesn’t want to get rid of its beloved enemy. The company said that it encourages the Sun to stay in print on its own.
“The Review-Journal competes with countless sources of news and entertainment, but we would welcome one more. We just don’t want to foot the bill. It is time the Sun stood up on its own two feet,” the Review-Journal wrote in an April 3 editorial.
The Sun is still in publication, as the newspaper operates a website and social media accounts. However, the Sun has claimed that losing the print paper will hurt its readership and may, in the end, force it to shut down altogether.
“This does irreparable harm to our community, as no one benefits when a local newspaper is prevented from being published,” the Sun’s attorney Leif Reid said, according to the Associated Press.