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E16 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 2006 L O S A N G E L E S T I M E S CALENDAR Derision and rivalry in the desert [Vegas, from. Page E l ] age of a region that has more than doubled in population. “The morning paper,” he de­clared in his column, “has grown fat, lazy and arrogant.” The finger-in-your-eye tone of the feud belies the serious issues at stake for the papers and, espe­cially, residents of Southern Ne­vada. The region’s population now tops 1.8 million, and new construction creeps ever-farther into the desert and chocolate-cblored hills — creating wrench­ing pressure for more water, elec­tricity, roads and schools. Steve Sebelius, who worked for both papers before becoming editor of the city’s alternative City Life weekly, said both dailies need to raise their games. “We LEGACY: Brian Greenspun’s need a lot more eyes and a lot dad bought the Sun in the 1950s. more experienced people than we have now watching all this chises and more than 50 news-stuff that is changing,” Sebelius papers around the nation, said, “and to look out for the citi- Greenspun’s empire centered in zens and the taxpayers.” Las Vegas, including cable televi­sion and the massive Green Val- O ld-fashioned feud ley residential development. The residual wattage power- Both men died more than a ing the Las Vegas newspaper decade ago, but their competi-feud comes as little surprise to tion lives on. locals, given the neon finy in Sherman Frederick, who which it was bom. worked his way up from report- Donald W. Reynolds was al- ing intern to publisher of the Re­ready a small-time newspaper view- Journal over 30 years, said owner in Oklahoma and Arkan- the Sun’s willingness to sign up sas when he arrived in Las Vegas for the joint distribution deal sig-and bought the paper that would naled his paper’s hard-earned become the flagship in a billion- victory. dollar empire. He renamed it the “The Review-Journal won be- Review-Journal. A year later, in cause it was the better news- 1950, Reynolds was fighting with paper,” Frederick said, “top to his union printers when they de- bottom, owner to pressman to cided to launch a renegade publi- beat reporter.” cation. Another relative new- Greenspun’s son, Brian, 59, comer, Herman “Hank” Green- assumed management of the spun, bought the upstart (with newspaper after his father died $1,000 down) and named it the in 1989. Rather than a victory for Sun. the Review-Journal,he describes The two newspapermen the joint distribution deal as a would find much to loathe in tremendous opportunity for the each other in the years to come. scrappy underdog. In his regular column, Green- “The great irony is that the spun routinely depicted Reyn- people who tried to destroy my olds as the parsimonious “Uncle dad for the last 40 years of his life Piggy.” Reynolds called his rival are the people who his paper is “Vermin Greenscum” and lashed joined to, at the hip, for the next out at what he said were his com- 30-plus years,” Greenspun said, petitor’s ample business con- “And that makes the Sun a bet-flicts. Greenspun volleyed back ter, more impactful newspaper.” that Reynolds’ critique was like “a eunuch judging a man’s love- c an a ry making.” Two-newspaper towns have The reclusive Reynolds and become increasingly rare, and the bombastic Greenspun Las Vegas appeared to be waged war not just on behalf of headed toward a single publica-their papers but sometimes for tion. But neither side has been their much larger business em- willing to sell out to the other, pires. Reynolds would become Instead, the papers agreed in the billionaire owner of billboard 1989 to a joint operating agree-companies, cable television fran- ment that combined advertising and production operations. elevate the writing.” Despite the collaboration, the Two other Los Angeles Times Sun’s circulation plummeted like veterans -f- reporter turned col-many other aftemoon-deliveiy umnist Tom Gorman and design dailies, reaching a low of 24,154 director Bill Gaspard — also last year. Even with the region’s have joined the paper, which 116% population growth from plans to add six reporters in its 1990 to 2004, the dominant Re- news department alone, view-Journal added just 22% In recent weeks, the formula more circulation, to 165,208. has seen a few s u c c e s s e s a n Looking for additional ways early report on architect Frank to cut costs, Greenspun and Gehiy’s design for a locail hospi- Frederick agreed last summer tal, a blow-by-blow account of that the papers should be pack- the events that led to University aged together. The arrangement of Nevada, Las Vegas President began on the first Sunday in Oc- Carol Harter losing her job and tober, with readers greeted by a an analysis of the Homeland Se- “Las Vegas Review-Journal” curity agency’s decision to leave nameplate across the top of the Las Vegas off a list of top terror-front page, followed by the pa- ist targets, per’s Nevada news section. In- Some observers believe that stead of flipping immediately to to increase its credibility, the Sports, they now receive a third Sun must do more to assure its section that is the Las Vegas coverage appears independent Sun. of the Greenspun family’s many The smaller paper with the economic interests, brilliant orange logo consists of a The paper has gotten into the single section of eight to 12 habit of notifying readers when it pages, usually with two or three covers Greenspun holdings, stories on the front page, an which include housing develop-abundance of columnists and ments, publishing and casinos, editorials inside, and a back page But that was not enough to stave devoted to sports or features. off charges of cronyism last Some journalists at the bigger month, when the Sun ran two Review-Journal bridled at giving front-page stories and a column, the smaller paper new life, deri- saying the city got a good deal sively referring to the competi- when it agreed to allow a devel-tion as “the insert” or the “Sun- oper to plow under the Royal sert ” Links Golf Club to make way for A few readers felt a certain in- 1,200 homes, congruity in the new combina- The Sun said it based its con-tion as well — a bit like finding elusions on an analysis by an in- Magic Johnson suddenly dependent firm of the deal be-cloaked in Boston Celtics green. tween the city and Bill Walters* a Assessing the fixture of the Greenspun friend and onetime new hybrid, one local commenta- business partner. The Review-tor resurrected A. J. Liebling’s Journal, in contrast, has repeat-old saw: A big newspaper merges edly described the home pro-with a small one like a cat merges posal as a sweetheart deal for with a canary. But operators of Walters that hurts taxpayers, the Sun prefer to view their bird Sun Managing Editor Mi­as something more like the phoe- chael J. Kelley — a onetime po-nix— rising from near-death into litical writer for the Kansas City a journalistic renaissance. Star and former editor of a sub- The Sun’s plan is to cede m ost urban Chicago daily — acknowl-routine news coverage to the big- edged that “it would make my life ger paper. It will attempt, in- way easier if the company only stead, to publish a kind of daily owned the Sun.” But he argued magazine, filled with features, that the paper would be commit-analysis, investigations and a tirfg a greater error if it backed raft of columnists. away from writing about busi- “There is a chance here to ndss deals of major local import build something that doesn’t ex- just because Greenspun or his ist anywhere in American jour- alliesare involved, nalism,” said Drex Heikes, a for- The Review-Journal, in con-mer editor of the Los Angeles trast, is more likely to be criti- Times magazine, who recently cized for what it doesn’t cover signed on as a deputy managing than what it does. Several cur-editor at the Sun. “We have been rent and former employees said freed from some news-gathering the R-J staff is stretched too thin obligations, and we are trying to in the ever-growing city. Even the add context and meaning, do Review-Journal’s Smith con-more enterprise reporting and cedes the need for improvement. Photographs by Bryan Haraway For The Times PA PER CLOUT: The Review-Journal's Sherman Frederick worked his way up from a reporting intern to publisher. “We do a few things really well, to let them get the upper hand and we are C students in a lot of on us journalistically,” Frederick areas,” said the veteran colum- recently declared from the Re-nist. “That is the huge challenge view-journal’s offices on the for the Review-Journal: How to city’s downtrodden westside. grow into those clothes and be- Miles south and east in sub-come a legitimate metropolitan urban Henderson, where his of-daily.” fice overlooks sprawling suburbs Publisher Frederick said he his family helped build, Sun had enough staff, in part because President and Editor Brian the paper did not have to cover Greenspun retorts: “They care multiple cities and school dis- more about making money than tricts, as do papers in many met- they do about producing a great ropolitan areas. newspaper that’s in the commu- In a concession to the Sim’s nity interest.” increasing focus on in-depth cov- Hal Rothman, a history pro-erage, the Review-Journal re- fessor at UNLV, who writes a col-cently added a five-person spe- umn for the Sun, likes what he cial projects team. Among its has seen of the combined publi-first products were recent stories cation. that analyzed soaring salaries “In the last five months,” being paid to the region’s police Rothman said, “it’s become f officers. much more vibrant newspaper “I will be damned if I am going town.”