If you didn't know any better (actually, I think I do), you would think that perhaps Cristina Silva at the Associated Press is doing all she can to minimize the tourism-damaging things President Barack Obama has said about Las Vegas while tasked with reporting on his upcoming visit there.
Three times in her short afternoon report -- once in the item's headline and twice in the item's first two paragraphs -- Silva refers to Las Vegas as "Sin City." I realize that it's a legitimate nickname and that the town isn't seen as a mecca of virtue, but whatever happened to referring to the place as, well, "Vegas" -- especially since Obama has never used the "Sin City" nickname in a speech? A graphic capture of the short item's first four paragraphs follows (link will probably be revised during the evening):
Silva didn't quote either of Obama's suggestions about avoiding Vegas. As seen in the excerpts which follow, his 2009 statement definitely did damage:
February 2009 (BNET; "Obama's Las Vegas Remark Inflames Industry")
It was only a five-second soundbyte, meant for Wall Street fat cats asking for government bailouts.
“You can’t get corporate jets. You can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayer’s dime, ” President Barack Obama said to a town hall meeting in Elkhart, Ind. last week.
But the remark caused a hailstorm of anger from Las Vegas officials, members of the travel industry and even residents. And now the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority will launch a six-figure campaign with ads in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and other publications featuring company testimonials.
“People are telling me that they’re not coming to Las Vegas because the president doesn’t want them to,” Mayor Oscar B. Goodman told the New York Times.
February 2010 (AP, "Obama responds to ire over 2nd anti-Vegas remark")
"When times are tough, you tighten your belts," Obama said, according to a White House transcript of his appearance Tuesday at a high school in Nashua, N.H.
"You don't go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage," Obama said. "You don't blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you're trying to save for college. You prioritize. You make tough choices."
AP reporter Silva seemed so determined to maximize her "Sin City" references that she did so in her second paragraph rather than actually quote what Obama said about, well, "Vegas."
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
