In two separate blog posts and a weekly column, Las Vegas Review-Journal publisher Sherman Frederick responded to criticism from Media Matters by attacking the organization as “intellectually criminal” and “little more than a tool of government.” However, he has yet to actually rebut any of the substance of the original item documenting his falsehoods and smears.
Frederick claimed that "'Media Matters' criticism should be a badge of courage for any non-Kool-Aid drinking journalist." And he suggested that there is some sort of conspiracy involving Media Matters, Sen. Harry Reid and the IRS:
The more troubling question that should interest independent minds is why Media Matters reaches all the way out to Nevada to squirt its partisan poison.
Might it have anything to do with Sen. Harry Reid's election woes? He has already said he hopes the Review-Journal, his chief critic in Nevada, goes out of business. And then Media Matters pops up to help? Maybe it's just a coincidence. You'll forgive me, however, if I brace myself for a “random” IRS audit and maybe a couple of unannounced federal inspections down at the newspaper.
Frederick also wrote in his latest column:
The good news is that Media Matters doesn't mean much when it comes to actual readers. They've posted their bile for several days and only garnered five comments. Five comments? Hell, I can get five comments by posting a blog that says “the sky is blue.” For the curious, you can catch my blog and other Las Vegas news at "lvrj.com."
Actual readers? Let's see:
The original item cataloguing Frederick's falsehoods was posted on March 22. As you can see, Media Matters ranked far higher in traffic than the website of the Las Vegas Review-Journal in the “several days” since the item was published.
Frederick also responded to Joe Strupp's blog post today, which noted criticism from observers and former employees of the Review-Journal, including this comment from Jon Ralston:
“Those who are critical of the Review-Journal were thrilled to see someone assemble many of his inflammatory pieces in one place,” said Jon Ralston, a former Review-Journal columnist who now writes for the Las Vegas Sun. “It is one thing for someone to be a local embarrassment; it is another thing to be a national embarrassment.”
Frederick responded to Strupp and Ralston:
It is worth noting that after calling everybody they could, the only working journalist they could get on the record was Jon Ralston, a competitor who likes to think he's the king of political reporting in Nevada. In fact, he's a cracked bell journalistically -- very unreliable when it comes to the big stories in which certain “sources” seem to be able to get to him and spin him.
Frederick also wrote:
I invite you to take a look at the Media Matters site, to view for yourself how this intellectually criminal outfit tries to pass itself off as a journalism site. In fact it is all about politics they don't agree with. I'm surprise [sic] they haven't taken issue with my movie reviews and restaurant recommendations.
Not yet, anyway.