Interesting quest. But, unfortunately, doomed.
But you’re absolutely correct. There’s no such thing in Las Vegas as a bona fide newspaper in a newsrack. In fact, in almost 3,000 newsracks in the county, the only ones that contain media other than booklets and brochures for escort services, strippers, topless clubs, and Nye County legal brothels dispense advertising magazines for real estate.
How did this happen? In the mid-‘90s, county officials, hoping to get rid of the phalanx of human hawkers lining the Strip and handing out smut, held a sort of lottery for the use of newsracks on Strip sidewalks. A handful of smut merchants grabbed up all the racks by applying for permits under numerous names. One advertiser, for example, holds nearly 800 of the 2,800 permits. Another holds permits in more than 11 different names. Of course, the newsracks didn’t get rid of the handbill hawkers, who still line the sidewalk, forcing visitors to run a gauntlet. And permit holders can keep their newsracks indefinitely, as long as they pay an annual fee.
So now, the county is trying to figure out ways to change the newsrack ordinance. One idea is to ban them entirely. This wouldn’t help your quest, though it would certainly raise a First Amendment stink; operators will no doubt fight for their constitutional right to place newsracks on public sidewalks.
The casinos are also trying to eradicate the situation by claiming the fronting sidewalks as private property. Bellagio, Wynn, and Paris all enforce a no-peddling policy within their spheres of influence. However, though the issue hasn’t yet been litigated, claiming the sidewalks is probably not legal. In 2001, a U.S. Appeals Court ruled that the "land underneath the Venetian’s sidewalks may be private, but the sidewalk functions as a public forum and therefore the hotel cannot bar union members from picketing on them." In other words, First Amendment rights apply to the sidewalks.
As you can see, the whole thing is touchy. But the bottom line is, forget about dropping quarters into a sidewalk newsrack in Las Vegas and pulling out a Review-Journal, Sun or weekly newspaper. You’ll just have to buy them in convenience stores and hotel gift shops.
