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Summarized by Mike Nielsen
Time magazine does Nauvoo
Deseret News 25Apr00 D1
By Stephen A. Martin: Deseret News correspondent
NAUVOO, ILLINOIS -- A dozen Time magazine reporters, editors and
photographers toured Nauvoo, Illinois, at the beginning of their two
week trek down the Mississippi river. They talked with people about
the town's historic restoration, but may return later because they
think that there is more to the story. According to editor Barry
Seaman, "There were too many church people there for people to talk
openly."
When they reached Nauvoo, they were greeted by LDS church officials, and
were introduced to the city's history and importance to the LDS church
faithful. They viewed the site of the Nauvoo Temple, and some attended a
luncheon while others sought out townspeople to interview in local shops.
Stories from the trip will appear in the magazine durin the week of July 4.
CNN and CBS's "The Early Show" also may air reports that result from the
trip. The trip is similar to one the magazine sponsored three years ago,
which featured stops from Ocean City, Maryland, to San Francisco,
California. The goal of such trips is to learn public opinion from the
nation's interior, rather than merely the more common news centers of
Washington and New York.
Townspeople in Nauvoo spoke to the reporters about the tremendous impact of
the temple and tourism on their community. Yearly toursim is expected to
quadruple from 250,000 to 1,000,000 visitors. Concern was voiced about how
this will affect the town of 1,200.
David Van Biem, religion reporter for the magazine, noted that "You can go
to a lot of recreations of historic this and historic that, but you can't
go to a lot of recreations that have so much meaning to a group of people."
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