Where I Stand - Brian Greenspun: Page column tradition giving way to progress

Tradition! Tradition!

Those words, once uttered by Tevye in The Fiddler on the Roof, usually meant the giving way of the way things had always been done to the new, more modern ways of the how they should be done.

For Tevye it was his daughter marrying a boy she loved rather than the man he would choose for her. It was also the change in hundreds of years of celebrating the Sabbath to the new ways dictated by the younger people looking for expression of their own.

In today's world there are many examples of tradition moving aside as progress determines newer and better ways of doing what had always been done before.

And so it goes in the newspaper business as well. This time it is a tradition that has stood the test of time at the Las Vegas Sun but, as in The Fiddler, the times are in need of changing.

Today's Sun announces a brand-new, user-friendly look. It is the result of months of planning by the editorial staff of this newspaper and designing by a very talented individual, Bill Gaspard.

It is the direct result of what can happen when our publisher decides that the Sun needs a new look, a new feel and some new life. My mother made that decision a couple of years ago and today is the first of many steps toward fulfilling her instructions.

A newspaper, though, is not just cosmetics, although many in our business are content to provide a makeover now and then in an effort to fool the readers into thinking something good is happening.

But a fresh, new look can go a long way in helping a newspaper showcase its strengths and that is what we intend to do. Of course, this is just the beginning. It is our goal to make the Las Vegas Sun the must-read local newspaper for Southern Nevadans. And that means better writing and editing and more attention to the needs of our readers and our community.

When my father started the Sun in 1950 his goal was to give this brand-new and growing community an editorial voice that was concerned about working men and women, cared about the kind and quality of schools we would build to educate our young people and was always a guidepost from which our budding industry could take direction lest it go astray and take the people with it.

For almost 40 years Hank Greenspun led that cause through his daily Where I Stand column. If it happened or was about to happen in Las Vegas, our readers knew it first by reading Hank's column.

This front-page column has been a cherished tradition that always set the Sun apart from every other paper in the country. There's that word again, tradition.

But, just as Tevye learned from the young people around him that traditions must sometimes be challenged to find new and better ways, so, too, have we been challenged by those around us to find a better way to share our opinions through this Where I Stand column.

Simply put, Mike O 'Callaghan, Ruthe Deskin and I have been asked to give up this very comfortable front-page position in favor of top billing on the Sun's editorial opinion page. In short, they want us to move.

They say it will make for a better newspaper because vital news will have more room on the front page and our popular Where I Stand columns will invite readers into the editorial pages. This will, in the end, create more knowledgeable readers because of the wealth of divergent opinion that is published by the Sun.

Like Tevye, though, I resisted because I believed that Hank Greenspun was right all those years in leaving his column on the front page and, frankly, I wanted to make that tradition last. Finally, though, I realized that when Hank wrote he BEGIN ITALICS was END ITALICS the Las Vegas Sun and, therefore, it was necessary to lead the front page with where he stood.

Life has changed and the Las Vegas Sun is about far more than just what the editor thinks. And while where Mike and I and others stand on the issues is an important element of this newspaper, there is a great deal more that goes into making it a great paper. And that is our goal.

Even Tevye knew when tradition had to give way to progress. So, from now on, Where I Stand will have a new home on the opinion pages at the back of the A section. Mike and I will continue to write at least four days a week. Ruthe Deskin, however, got her choice and opted to lead the Accent section on Thursday. I join her longtime readers and all the new ones she'll pick up in wishing her a long and prolific run in her new location.

There is one tradition at the Sun that will not change. It comes from the first words written by Hank Greenspun in his newspaper on June 21, 1950. It follows:

"To the citizens of Clark County:

"I have purchased this newspaper from the Community Printing and Publishing Co., in the belief that the southern part of Nevada is desperately in need of another newspaper. There can only be a free press when a competitive spirit prevails.

"A newspaper can only be as impartial as the man who controls it. And where the human element is involved there is and always will be partisanship. A single community newspaper can therefore clot the bloodstream of a free people.

"I pledge that I will always fight for progress and reform; never tolerate injustice or corruption; never lack sympathy with the underpriviledged; always remain devoted to the public welfare; never be satisfied with merely printing the news; always be drastically independent.

"I will always uphold the liberal laws of the state of Nevada, and I will remain dedicated to the people of Southern Nevada because the people are always right.

"With this in mind, I feel that it is not only your privilege but your desire to give Las Vegas a truly free press. Your assistance through subscriptions and advertising will sustain a free press. By supporting this newspaper, you will help make our city a better place in which to live, a decent heritage for our children to enjoy."

That's a tradition that will not give way to progress. And, as the man said, your subscriptions to the Las Vegas Sun will help ensure that free and independent press that is so vital to our democratic way of life.

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