Review-Journal expanding newsroom to create special projects team

The Las Vegas Review-Journal will create a special projects team, hiring six additional newsroom staffers to investigate and produce in-depth public-service stories and packages that will often take long periods of time to develop.

Review-Journal Publisher Jason Taylor said in a newsroom meeting Thursday that Review-Journal owner GateHouse Media had approved the plan.

"I believe strongly that the key to long-term success for the Review-Journal is unique content," Taylor said. "This new team shows our commitment to making Southern Nevada a better place by digging deeper and finding the stories behind the stories. A fundamental part of what the Review-Journal does is exposing the truth, holding the politically powerful accountable and asking the tough questions that the community wants answered."

The Review-Journal will first hire the lead editor for the projects team. Once that position is filled, the Review-Journal will hire two senior-level reporters, one mid-level reporter, a data editor and a writing coach. The data editor and writing coach will be shared with other newspapers in the GateHouse chain.

"There are many issues our reporters come across in the course of their work that demand extra resources to develop, and it's great to know we now will be in a better position to develop some of those ideas into projects that serve the public's interests," said Review-Journal Editor Michael Hengel. "This is a great thing for the R-J and the Las Vegas community as a whole."