Newspaper War

“In many ways, both papers reflect, maintain and exacerbate on a local level the polarized information environment that we find across the country, but they also give voice to the state’s diverse viewpoints and populations in a way that would be almost impossible for only one newspaper to do. I can’t imagine Utah’s distinctive public square thriving without either paper doing what it does.”

—Patrick Mason, Mormon historian, “The vicious 150-year rivalry between Utah’s two biggest newspapers,” The Washington Post, Dec. 6, 2021. Image: A Tribune newspaper box in Ogden, Utah.Thanks to Chuck Carpenter. 

• Editorial Comment: Salt Lake journalism was never dull. 

• Note: Strangled by contracts with its competitor, the church-owned Deseret News, The Salt Lake Tribune ceased daily print publication on Dec. 31, 2020. Nearly a year later, the Trib continues as the nation's only big-city nonprofit newspaper, publishing digitally Monday-Saturday and on paper on Sundays.

PeezPIX 

Mixed Media

December's SENIOR NEWS is The Stocking Stuffer Issue. Click here.

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“I don’t think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.”—Tom Stoppard

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Edward C. Pease, Ph.D.
Professor & Department Head Emeritus
Department of Journalism & Communication
Utah State University
Today's WORD on Journalism