Columnist Jeff German: Bashing of Times shows our hypocrisy

Friday, June 4, 2004 | 4:42 a.m.

Jeff German's column appears Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays in the Sun. Reach him at german@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4067.

WEEKEND EDITION

June 5 - 6, 2004

As it published its lengthy series on Las Vegas last week, The New York Times called us a "land of unmatched opportunity and extreme dysfunction."

Much of that dysfunction was brought out in the series through the usual negative stereotypes about Las Vegas -- the unfriendly environment for children, including overcrowded schools, the proliferating topless nightclub industry and the struggles of new residents looking for a fresh start.

The Times concluded that the American dream can be found in Las Vegas, but along with it comes heartache and frustration, too.

"People still find houses and jobs here," the paper said in one of its early pieces. "But they also find air choked with construction dust, overstretched water supplies, poor health care, impossible traffic, soaring rates of teenage suicide and drug abuse and, seeping outward from the Strip, a 24-hour culture of gambling and sex that many newcomers with children ultimately find intolerable."

We probably could argue forever over whether the series portrayed Las Vegas in a fair light.

Many movers and shakers have concluded that it didn't, and they're looking to respond to the Times.

Mayor Oscar Goodman -- the martini-guzzling former mob lawyer who would love to see a red light district with houses of prostitution downtown -- told reporters Thursday that he planned to write a letter to the newspaper voicing his concerns.

And Kara Kelley -- president of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, the organization that fought to kill a broad-based business tax that would have helped fix some of our social problems -- held a meeting Friday to unleash the wrath of the business community on the Times.

But does anyone see the hypocrisy in this?

We spend millions of dollars each year promoting the most famous stereotype of all about Las Vegas, our reputation as Sin City, to lure millions of visitors to our spectacular casinos.

And yet we ignore the social costs (as if they don't exist) that come with our booming tourism-based economy.

The state spends no money treating the hordes of problem gamblers among us, and it puts no pressure on the profit-minded casinos to help the addicted.

All the while, prostitution is rising on the Strip, our high school dropout rate is among the highest in the nation, locals are pouring into Bankruptcy Court, and our crime rate has increased by 25 percent over the last two years.

When The New York Times exposes our underbelly and points out that Las Vegas is not all glamour and glitz, we get offended. We criticize the paper for doing the very thing we do ourselves -- exploiting stereotypes about Las Vegas.

The only difference is that what The New York Times had to say doesn't fit neatly into the tourism industry's marketing strategy.

Kelley said some 30 business and community leaders, including top executives with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, showed up for her meeting Friday to figure out how to respond to the newspaper. It was decided that the group would send a single letter of protest.

"We want people to know that this is a wonderful place," Kelley said. "We are very proud of the community, and we have a lot of wonderful stories to tell."

That's certainly true.

But those aren't the stories the LVCVA tells in its latest multimillion-dollar advertising blitz, made famous by the slogan, "What happens here, stays here."

The LVCVA prefers to promote the less-virtuous stereotype that sex and other vices are abundant in Las Vegas.

We're out there telling the world that this is Sin City, where bad things can happen to you.

Why should we be upset when the paper of record points it out?