Bob Brown: Advocate for Truth

Las Vegas Legate Bob Brown leads Nevada’s largest newspaper with a passion . . .

When Bob Brown became the publisher of the Las Vegas Review-Journal two years ago, he didn’t check his Catholic faith at the door.

As the publisher of the largest newspaper in Nevada — and a member of Legatus’ Las Vegas Chapter — Brown tries to live the virtues every day. This is no small task when you consider the fast-paced, high tech and secular world that is mainstream journalism today.

During one of his first interviews as publisher, Brown told a reporter, “We need to print the truth.” A local blogger decried Brown’s statement saying, “You mean your truth.”

Brown was angered by the blog but decided not to respond. He knew his paper’s professionalism would speak for itself.

“When people hear the truth, they know it,” he said. “And there is such a thing as truth.”

Faith journey

Brown grew up in San Leandro, Calif., with one brother and three sisters. His mother was the organist and pianist for the local Catholic parish. She was also the main Catholic influence in Brown’s life. Catholicism would prove to be a steady, though sometimes dim, light during many of the storms that would pass through his life.

“My younger brother died of cancer when he was 11 and I was 13,” he said. “It tore my family apart. My father ended up leaving the faith and my parents got divorced.”

After this, he said, everyone in the family gravitated to their own interests in order to survive. For the young Bob Brown, that outlet was sports. He went through a long period of questioning and anger, wondering, “How could God do this?” But through it all, he never stopped going to Mass.

Eventually Brown went to the University of Berkeley where he was constantly questioned by other students about his Catholicism.

“They would ask me why I believed this,” he said. “It required me to question my own faith and search for the answers. I never took it for granted.”

The constant questioning and searching served to strengthen Brown’s Catholic convictions. He eventually found peace with Catholicism after college.

“Through all those years of questioning, I always stayed connected. I have a lot of conversations with my three boys about this. I tell them that the world will wear you down, but going to Church will keep you recharged.” Besides spiritual reading, Brown also prays the rosary.

“I was driving to work one day and someone cut me off. I was furious and began yelling. Then I realized, ‘Wow! I’m just angry.’ So I started saying the rosary on my way to work in the car, and it has made such a difference in my day. It keeps me focused on what I am here for, and what is the most important thing.”

Some of Brown’s favorite spiritual books are Fr. Robert Spitzer’s Five Pillars of the Spiritual Life and Pope Benedict XVI’s Jesus of Nazareth. He often hands out spiritual books to friends, especially those who are questioning their Catholic faith.

A member of Legatus for nearly three years, Brown said the organization has helped keep him grounded and plugged into his faith.

“A friend of mine from the Chamber of Commerce invited us to Legatus,” he explained. “What we found was that we really liked being around other like-minded people. It is great for mentoring and understanding issues — especially those involving leadership and families.”

Faith at work

Bob and Melinda Brown

Brown’s journey into the world of journalism came about unexpectedly. He worked at a newspaper selling ads during college as a way to make money. Brown was the newspaper’s top salesperson when he told his boss that he was planning to go to law school. His manager said that if he stayed and worked hard he would be making more money sooner. So stay he did.

Throughout his years in journalism, Brown has seen how a good newspaper can still make a difference in any community.

“You can create a dialogue on how we fix things,” he said. “For example, the Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote a phenomenal series on officer-involved shootings. This series ended up changing the way police officers were trained in Nevada. We made it into an issue — and made people think about it.”

The paper also ran a series on real estate foreclosures. Nevada has one of the highest rates in the country.

“We do what we can to explain the problems and find solutions,” he said. “My job is to make sure that we have the resources to do the stories and communicate to the public.”

Another issue the paper plans to look at, Brown said, is prostitution in Las Vegas.

“There are lots of women who get pulled into prostitution. It’s insidious. There are predators out there who know what to do. They get many runaways, and they are also getting into our high schools. It’s horrible. Our paper can expose this problem, and we can deter some of it from happening.”

When it comes to the Catholic Church in the media, Brown ensures that the Review-Journal is fair and honest.

“My sense is that the Catholic Church is constantly under a little bit of an attack,” he explained. “We had a priest — my parish priest — who was charged with embezzling funds. You can imagine my dismay. I was in touch with our bishop at every step of our investigation. We had to report it, but I made sure that both sides of the story were presented.”

Brown also believes that Pope Benedict doesn’t get a “fair shake” from the secular news media, and that the scandals of the past decade have deeply hurt the Church’s image.

“But the challenge for us Catholics is to remember that we are the Church. If we are the only person someone knows who is Catholic, we have to make sure that we are living the faith.”

Giving back

Bob and Melinda Brown and their children visit Disneyland

Catholics continue to do a tremendous amount of good works, both internationally and locally, yielding a host of positive news opportunities, Brown said. As a board member of the local Catholic Charities, he knows firsthand the many helpful things done in his community.

In fact, both he and his wife Melinda serve on boards of several local charities: Special Olympics, Clark County Public Education Foundation, and Opportunity Village — the state’s largest employer of people with intellectual disabilities. The Browns have witnessed Opportunity Village’s transformational power in their 23-year-old daughter, who is disabled.

Though people often think of Las Vegas as “Sin City,” Melinda Brown says there are many exceptional people and organizations in the city.

“It really is a small town, which is very community-oriented,” she said. “And we have many churches here.”

When people ask the Browns what it takes to be a faithful Catholic at a secular paper, they emphasize professionalism and a dogged search for truth.

“I think the main thing about Bob is that he sets an example through his leadership and compassion — for those who work with him and those who are a focus in the news,” Melinda said. “His Catholic faith helps him when he looks at situations — by being faithful to the truth.”

Father Philip Audet, staff chaplain at a VA hospital in Biloxi, Miss., is a longtime friend of the Browns.

“Bob is a great witness of family life and relationship with God,” Fr. Audet said. “When you hear him speak, it’s very clear that he is moral and ethical. I was privileged to listen to him do an interview with National Public Radio. You could just hear — especially with a Catholic ear — that he was a person of integrity.”

Brown believes that the news media are at their best when they expose injustice — and fighting for justice is one of the cardinal virtues.

“It’s truth to power,” he said. “If newspapers are to survive and thrive, we need to be an advocate. We have a huge audience, so it’s a huge responsibility.”

On Sept. 22, the Las Vegas Review-Journal won top honors from Nevada Press Association — including first place for general excellence, community service, and freedom of the press.

For Bob Brown, his newspaper’s adherence to the truth was certainly vindicated.

Sabrina Arena Ferrisi is Legatus magazine’s senior staff— writer.