Articles about the Biggest Little City appeared in both the New York Times and Los Angeles Times Sunday.
People in Reno are talking about these articles which seem to take a less-than-optimistic view of Reno and our economic future.
But, tourism officials say having an article about Reno in the Sunday New York Times is actually a good thing in the big picture.
"The fact that we're important enough to be in the New York Times is actually positive. If we were some little podunk town that didn't matter, the New York Times would not have devoted a half a page in their Sunday edition which is their largest circulation to talk about it. I think if you see the article in the New York Times, it's actually five color photos with it, all of which are positive.. There are no cheap shot photos, so it comes across as more balanced when you see it in print," says RSCVA CEO and President Chris Baum.
The New York Times writer visited Reno and met with tourism officials, who say they told him about lots of benefits of life in northern Nevada, like the downtown River Walk, Artown and events that draw tourists here.
But the writer focused on the changes in gaming and the drop in jobs instead.
They also characterized our area as a victim of the housing crisis.
Tourism officials say they are changing the way they talk about the Reno-Tahoe area when they sell it to tourists, and they expect to see results from their "What's Your Passion" campaign.
They also say that the writer could have mentioned that hotels are full and that the month-long Artown festival is bringing millions of dollars to our area.
"It's disappointing when you have so many good things going on in your market and you spend an hour talking about all the good things and a few of the challenges we have and they focus on the challenges. But we can't control what they write and we all know what good things we have going here," says Joe Kelley of the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority.
Both Joe Kelley and Chris Baum spent time with the writer from the New York Times, and they say they talked about Artown, the balloon races and other events, but the reporter didn't take very many notes during that part of the discussion.
To read the NY Times article, go to http://nyti.ms/NrOQQ3
To read the LA Times article, go to http://lat.ms/NOi8Hc
Written by Jennifer Burton
