I appreciate what Peggy Fletcher Stack does, too, including walking a paper-thin line between her faith and her profession, especially given present conditions in Salt Lake.

In my defense, I was writing in generalizations, and I still believe that much of what drives major newspapers is ego, power, and money (even if out of necessity). I didn’t focus my attack specifically on the Trib though, rather on the evils that strongly influence major newspapers, the Salt Lake Tribune being one of them.

For what it’s worth, I think Peggy Fletcher Stack does a fine job at objectively covering the Church without poking the collective Mormon eye with a stick.

Jon

There are many news articles and religious/cultural features touching on Mormonism that I have been very glad to see there rather than in the Deseret News. Their coverage of Warren Jeffs was spectacular, IMO, and was free of any taint of sour grapes that might unjustly have been charged to the News. They do a good job with Mormonism, overall. (They have Kirby, for one thing — isn’t that enough to cover a multitude of sins?) The Tribune of 2008 is not the Tribune of 1908, and certainly not the Tribune of 1878.

Cut them some slack, please. The Tribune is nowhere near the infernal agent it is painted here. Besides, they like me well enough to continue to send a small but regular check, so they’re not, like, TOTALLY anti-Mormon.

Newspapers are notoriously cliquish. They are exclusive clubs, and the insiders make the rules. Egos abound, because “what I’m writing is so very important to my devoted fans, um, I mean readers.” They know this because their fans/readers write in to tell them so. Almost as good are irate readers who write in to complain. The only thing the writers/editors/managers see are another pair of eyeballs — it doesn’t matter what side you’re on. They know they’re right, because they’re the ones with their names in the bylines every day.

It’s also a power game, between politicians and writers; writers and editors; editors and managers (i.e., advertisers). Writers try to get their story on the front page. Editors clammer for their reporters to get the big scoop and pull the rug out from whomever/whatever is in power. But it all comes back to money.

Managers just want more readers. The more sensational (*cough* Fox News *cough*), the more readers, the higher the circulation, the more you can charge the advertisers. If it bleeds, it leads, and for good reason. It sells.

It’s all about ego and power and money. The Salt Lake Tribune is certainly no exception.

Follow the money.

Jon

P.S. If you really want to get their attention, send a letter to the managing editor (not the op-ed page) telling him you’re canceling your subscription, and make it clear that you are sending copies of the same letter to all the major advertisers. Then have all your friends and neighbors do the same. That’ll really freak them out. :)

The editors believe that they are a dog, and the Church is a fire hydrant. Every time the dog passes a hydrant, it feels the need to lift its leg.