Big Shakeup At The LVRJ

Today, there was bloodletting at the LVRJ began when publisher Sherman Fredicks and Editor Thomas Mitchell were essentially were demoted/fired.
From the Las Vegas Sun: "In an apparent shake-up at the highest ranks of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the newspaper announced today that Publisher Sherman Frederick has left the post and will become a consultant and columnist, and Editor Thomas Mitchell was reassigned from newsroom boss to senior opinion editor.
Frederick also was replaced as CEO of Stephens Media, the owner of the R-J. He was replaced by Michael Ferguson, the chief operating officer of Stephens Media. Ferguson in turn named Bob Brown, the newspaper’s advertising director since 2001, as the new publisher, according to the newspaper.
The changes came as a surprise to R-J reporters, who said there was no advance warning before the news was published on the R-J’s website.
Ferguson, the new CEO, said decisions about the future of the R-J will be left to the new publisher, Brown, and his local management team. An announcement on a new editor will be made in the coming weeks, he said."
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/nov/12/review-journal-publisher-sherman-frederick-editor-/
So, why did this all happen?
Is it because Fredricks wanted out because of his health problems? He has had prostrate, heart and other medical problems in the past year or so.
And why was Mitchell reassigned? Was the stress it the stress of running a newsroom caused him to seek another job?
Or could it be, as the conspiracy theorists are saying, is it because the LVRJ put a lot into it's editorials in defeating Harry Reid? I doubt that as the LVRJ has always been against Reid, so why would this be different? Besides, Mitchell is a conservative guy, so I don't think the editorials will change much.
Is it because of the copywrite lawsuits? That is possible. I don't think Stephen's Media-parent company of the LVRJ, is making much, if any, money off the lawsuits and that the Righthaven company is probably charging the LVRJ more money than they are bringing in through court settlements. Fredricks defended Righthaven and the lawsuits and it caused a furor in the blogging world, with talks of boycotts by people who never have read the print version of the paper.
So, what is the reason? Maybe, just maybe, Fredricks just wants to retire and Mitchell wants a more comfy job and that are the only reasons.
I guess we will see in the next several weeks if there is a change in the how the paper looks and if the paper's opinion page will change.
It should be interesting to see if there will be other changes as well.