News judgment is a funny thing. No matter how good you are, you cannot please everyone.
Case in point: Reader Greg Kemp of West Valley City took umbrage at the coverage of the opening BYU football game
on Aug. 30. His e-mail included the following comments: “Right smack on the cover is a photo of a BYU fan. . . . Then I
open the sports page and there are two more large photos and articles about BYU football. Not bad enough, but then
inside is even another photo and article about BYU. . . . BYU is in Provo right? Let the Provo paper cover them. This is
University of Utah territory.”
Dear Greg: BYU football has a national reputation and considerable interest from Utah readers (even U. of U.
graduates). Averaged over the fall, I would guess that BYU and the U. get about equal coverage. The Salt Lake Tribune is
a regional newspaper and, as such, covers events in all of Utah, not just the Salt Lake Valley.
Case in point: Reader Laura Barton Livnat sent an e-mail that reads in part: “I am very disappointed in your news
coverage since the change in managers. The front page/section should be for important national and world news, and
though sometimes Utah news qualifies, your latest stories are just like the Desert News [sic], and are composed of local
news only. Your world news coverage is only quick spurts right off the wire. I feel that Utah no longer has a reliable
newspaper that tells the world news daily, and both papers are biased towards only one segment of the population.”
Dear Laura: I have been at the Trib for more than nine years now, and local stories have been a part of the front page
during that entire time. News of Utah has been popular with Utah readers for decades.
In fact, across the country, newspapers have moved more and more local news and feature stories to the front page.
Certainly, world and national news is important and gets full attention. Tribune reporter Chris Smith will begin filing
reports from Washington, D.C., in October. From time to time, the Trib gets on-scene reports from freelance writers in
various parts of the world where the news heats up. But, like most newspapers of our circulation size, the Trib depends on
news services to provide reports from around the country and around the globe.
We provide as much coverage as our space in the nation/world section will allow.
Editors at the Deseret News would have to answer questions about the mix of their coverage, but I can tell you this: One
of our goals over the past two years has been to expand and deepen Utah coverage so it includes glimpses at all the ethnic,
religious and racial groups that make up the state’s population.
Case in point: Gwen Packard of Veyo (Washington County above St. George) takes us to task for deciding to
recommend political candidates on the editorial page: “Since you have decided to recommend certain candidates for
election or re-election, I will no longer purchase your newspaper. I am sure you will be recommending the Republican
candidates, no matter their qualifications or experience, since your paper is no longer one with an independent voice. . . . I
have been in Utah for 12 years and am totally disgusted with the ‘sheep’ mentality. If someone has an ‘R’ by his name on
the ballot the majority of people in this state will vote for that person — it doesn’t matter if he is the biggest crook on the
planet! I believe the job of a newspaper is to inform, not influence. But since your paper is now owned by people who are
of the LDS Church I see that it is an instrument of that group. Too bad, as it was a voice for all in the past and not just
slanted in one direction.”
Dear Gwen: The editorial page of a newspaper reflects the opinions of the owner and the editors who work for him. The
new editor of the editorial page is Vern Anderson. I am sure the editorial board will recommend the people it feels are
most qualified for office. In some races, it may not recommend anyone.
But the content and leanings of the editorial page have nothing to do with the news coverage on the news and feature
pages. The reporters and editors who cover Utah for the Trib’s readers are looking to cover the events and people that give
a realistic view of what happens in Utah, not to paint a portrait of how they believe the state should operate.
The new publisher of The Salt Lake Tribune, Dean Singleton, is a Baptist; the editor, James E. Shelledy, is a Catholic.
The job of a newspaper’s news pages is to inform. The job of a newspaper’s editorial pages includes influencing.
Around The Tribune, the two are not mixed.
