Where I Stand: SUN awards reflect our commitment to quality

Monday, Oct. 7, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

BRIAN GREENSPUN is editor of the Las Vegas SUN.

LAS VEGAS SUN readers demand excellence. And the SUN gives it to them.

Please excuse me this exercise in back-patting but I only get the chance once each year to commend the SUN, its reporters and editors to the Las Vegas community and, specifically, our good and loyal readers. Obviously, I could praise the talented staff of the SUN each day but it is only following the Nevada Press Association awards ceremony that I can rely on outside, unbiased judges who, it just so happens, agree with me.

Each year, the Nevada Press Association conducts the better newspaper competition for the state's dailies and weeklies. Naturally, this is the chance for each of us to be judged by our peers, so we take it rather seriously. This year's awards were presented Saturday night at Lake Tahoe, which formed a perfect setting for the rather raucous group of journalists cheering for their colleagues as they were presented with their awards by Gov. Bob Miller.

I remember the joy my father took in writing his tongue-in-cheek columns comparing the quality and intelligence of SUN readers with the people who read exclusively the other paper in town. He maintained that those Las Vegans who were concerned about their children and their community had to stay informed by reading the Las Vegas SUN because to rely on the Review-Journal was to condemn oneself to a significant lack of information and a perspective skewed by a viewpoint well out of the mainstream of progressive thought.

There is an adage that suggests that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Certainly, Las Vegas has changed over the decades but what has remained constant is the kind of people who look to the SUN for informative stories, challenging editorials and a sense of community that is missing from the competition. The R-J, if anything, has moved farther out of the mainstream. It seems to fill a need of some who enjoy tearing down rather than building up the institutions of civilized society.

Something else that hasn't changed over the years is the recognition by our peers that the Las Vegas SUN is a newspaper worth reading. That was confirmed Saturday night when the SUN, judged the best large daily newspaper in the state, received the first-place award for general excellence.

That's not really news to the dozens of reporters and editors who toil daily to bring our readers the most up-to-date and accurate stories about issues that affect them and their families. It is somewhat distressing news to the Review-Journal because it has always maintained that bigger must mean better. Truthfully, I'd love to have a much larger circulation but not at the expense of quality of product and determination of purpose.

Now, however, is not the time to gloat. The R-J writers garnered their share of first-place awards, too, and our congratulations go to them. It's just that when we beat the competition at their own game, the victory seems so much sweeter.

But collecting the most first-place prizes is not just a win for those of us at the SUN. It is a recognition that our readers have chosen well and wisely when they invite the Las Vegas SUN into their homes. Nobody wants to think they are settling for second best, so when young reporters like Karen Zekan are selected as the Journalist of Merit, the top individual award given, it is a reaffirmation of the confidence our readers place in the SUN to provide them with top-notch, accurate reporting.

And, of course, I can't brag about our people without mentioning the SUN's nationally recognized editorial cartoonist, Mike Smith, who is a frequent winner as he was, again, in Lake Tahoe. His biting and incisive editorial cartoons are good enough to run regularly in USA Today and other national dailies and weekly magazines, so why shouldn't the judges recognize the obvious?

And what about sports? The other paper says it provides the best in the state. The judges, though, practically handed the SUN the entire category. The same is true for photography, graphics and business reporting. Even the irreverent Scott Dickensheets added a couple of first-place awards to the mix.

In short, this was a very good year for the SUN. Next year may be different but I don't think so. That's because we remain committed to providing our readers with the best coverage possible and that means talented writers, photographers and editors.

So what should we expect from our readers? Nothing more than your readership and involvement in your newspaper. Of course, there is something else you can do to help us keep getting better. Everyone knows that there are more Review-Journal subscribers than SUN subscribers. There are some reasons why that is the case, but one of them should not be because people don't know about us and about how good we really are.

That's where our readers come in. Tell your neighbors and friends about the SUN. Tell them there is a newspaper in Las Vegas that cares about our schools, our environment and the quality of life our children will have in the coming years. Let them know that if they want excellence, then they've got to subscribe to the SUN. That's not us talking, that's the Nevada Press Association.

Do all that and who knows, if enough people subscribe to Las Vegas' best newspaper, by the time the NPA awards are given out in Winnemucca next year, we will not only be the best daily paper in the state but the biggest, too!