| Truth and Liberty | |
 | |
 Deseret.com homepage andDeseret Magazine | |
| Type |
|
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints viaDeseret Management Corporation |
| Publisher | Burke Olsen |
| Editor | Doug Wilks and Sarah Jane Weaver |
| Founded | June 15, 1850; 174 years ago (1850-06-15) |
| Headquarters | 55 N 300 W Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.[1] |
| Circulation |
|
| ISSN | 0745-4724 |
| OCLC number | 367900153 |
| Website | deseret |
TheDeseret News (/ˌdɛzəˈrɛt/ ⓘ)[3] is a multi-platformnewspaper based inSalt Lake City, published byDeseret News Publishing Company, a subsidiary ofDeseret Management Corporation, which is owned bythe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[4] Founded in 1850, it was the first newspaper to be published inUtah.[5] The publication's name is from the geographic area ofDeseret identified by Utah'spioneer settlers, and much of the publication's reporting is rooted in that region.[6][7]
On January 1, 2021, the newspaper switched from a daily to a weekly print format while continuing to publish daily on the website and Deseret News app.[8] As of 2024,Deseret News develops daily content for its website and apps, in addition to twice weekly print editions of theDeseret News Local Edition and a weekly edition of theChurch News andDeseret News National Edition. The company also publishes 10 editions ofDeseret Magazine per year.
On March 31, 1847, while atWinter Quarters,Nebraska, the LDS Church'sQuorum of the Twelve Apostles authorizedWilliam W. Phelps to "go east and procure a printing press" to be taken to the future Mormon settlement in theGreat Basin.[9]: 3–4 Phelps left Winter Quarters sometime in May, and went toBoston by way of the former Mormon settlement ofNauvoo, Illinois. In Boston, with the help of William I. Appleby, the president of the Church's Eastern States Mission, and Church member Alexander Badlam, Phelps was able to procure awrought iron Ramagehand-press,type, and other required equipment. He returned to Winter Quarters on November 12, 1847, with the press.[9]: 11–12 Due partly to its size and weight, the press and equipment would not be taken toSalt Lake City until 1849. By that time many of theMormon pioneers had left Winter Quarters and the press was moved across theMissouri River to another temporary Mormon settlement,Kanesville, Iowa.[9]: 16 In April 1849 the press and other church property was loaded onto ox drawn wagons, and traveled with the Howard Egan Company along theMormon Trail.[9]: 17 The wagon company, with the press, arrived in theSalt Lake Valley August 7, 1849.[10]
The press was moved into a smalladobe building (just east of the present site of theHotel Utah) that also served as acoin mint for the settlers.[11] The press was at first used to print the necessary documents (such as laws, records, and forms) used in setting up the provisionalState of Deseret.[9]: 368–368
The first issue of theDeseret News was published June 15, 1850, and was eight pages long. This first issue included the paper'sprospectus, written by the editorWillard Richards, along with news from theUnited States Congress, and a report on theSan Francisco 1849 Christmas Eve fire; an event which had occurred six months prior.[12] Because it was meant to be the voice of the State of Deseret, it was called theDeseret News, and its motto was "Truth and Liberty". It was at first a weekly Saturday publication, and published in "pamphlet form" in hopes that readers would have the papers bound into volumes.[13] Subscription rate was $2.50 for six months.
A jobs press, usually called the Deseret News Press, was also set up so theNews could print books, booklets, handbills, broadsides, etc., for paying customers and other publishers.[9]: 74
From the beginning, paper shortages were a problem for theNews staff. Starting with the October 19, 1850, issue—only four months after publication began—the paper had to be changed to a bi-weekly publication.[9]: 53 Even so, many times in the 1850s there were several periods when theNews could not be published for lack of paper; one period lasted three months during the fall of 1851.[9]: 54–55
Thomas Howard, a Mormon immigrant from England, and a paper-maker, approachedBrigham Young about using some machinery—originally meant for producing sugar—to make their own paper; Young agreed to the plan. The publishers asked everyone to donate old paper and cloth to the venture. In the summer of 1854 the first issues of theNews were published on "homemade paper" that was very thick, and grayish in color.[9]: 56–57
Even with paper shortages, occasionally aNews extra would be published, if there were important news or a sermon that could not wait for the regular publication date.[9]: 73
During a turbulent time period, later known as theUtah War, theNews presses and equipment were moved to the central and southern parts of the state. As armed forces of the United States camped just outside the state atFort Bridger,George Q. Cannon was assigned to take some presses and equipment toFillmore while Henry McEwan was to take the remainder toParowan. On May 5, 1858, the first issue of theNews with Fillmore City as the publication place appeared; issues would continue to be printed in both Fillmore and Parowan until September 1858[9]: 89–90 While in Fillmore, the press was kept in the basement of theUtah Territorial Statehouse. That fall the presses were brought back to Salt Lake City and placed in theCouncil House, allowing theNews to begin normal operations. The soldiers who had marched to Utah during the war would remain at the newly constructedCamp Floyd. Their need for a newspaper, one not published by the LDS Church, was satisfied withKirk Anderson's Valley Tan, the area's second newspaper (and first competitor to theNews); published November 6, 1858.[9]: 98
During the 1850s through 1860s, numerous articles in theNews were printed in theDeseret Alphabet.[9]: 75
The coming of thePony Express to Utah in 1860 would bring changes to the paper, allowing news from the East to arrive in the Territory much faster. Even so, the paper remained a weekly, withNews extras being published with more frequency and temporary renamedThe Pony Dispatch.[14]
Yet, paper problems still plagued the publishers; paper was very expensive to haul fromCalifornia or the East, and attempts at making paper in the valley were still, for the most part, futile. In 1860 a paper-making machine had been purchased, and set-up in theDeseret Manufacturing Company sugar house factory, but lack of available materials meant a lack of paper. As a result, Brigham Young called George Goddard on a rag-gathering mission. Goddard traveled through the territory collecting rags that would then be turned into paper, and was able to supply enough to keep theNews in production.[9]: 124–125 Other problems such as ice and drought on the stream, running out ofParley's Canyon, that ran the paper mill caused the paper to have short lapses in publication.[9]: 125
In October 1861 the lines of theFirst Transcontinental Telegraph met in Salt Lake City, making the Pony Express obsolete, and bringing news to the Territory almost instantly. TheNews extras, now sometimes called telegraphic dispatches, were printed with even more frequency.
In March 1862, theNews and its staff moved from the Council House to the Deseret Store,[9]: 125 and in 1864 a steam-powered printing press arrived; it was placed in the basement the building.[9]: 126 The set type was lowered from the offices in the building's upper floor to the basement, through holes in each floor. Later an addition was constructed to the east of this building, and the presses were moved into that building.[9]: 181
On October 8, 1865, theNews launched its semi-weekly edition, this allowed news to get out more quickly and allowed for more advertisements. The weekly edition would continue and contained much of the same content as the semi-weekly, but editorials were different.[9]: 141
In November 1867,George Q. Cannon became the editor, and on the 21st of that month, theNews published its first daily edition, which was printed in the evening, and as such was namedThe Deseret Evening News.[9]: 146 Most of what was published in the daily edition, was also published in the weekly and semi-weekly, as the daily was meant for city readers and the weekly and semi-weekly for those living in the more rural areas of the territory.[9]: 150 Until December 1898 all three editions—the weekly, semi-weekly, and daily—were published concurrently.[9]: 171
In 1870, theMormon Tribune, later namedThe Salt Lake Tribune, was first printed, adding a new newspaper rival to the Salt Lake area. Since its founding theTribune andNews have often been involved in "newspaper battles", times when they could not agree on anything, even secular items. During these battles theNews has often been called grandmother, granny, or The Mormon Hand Organ.[9]: 196
Since its first publication, theNews had been owned directly by the LDS Church, but as worries about property confiscation increased due to theMorrill Anti-Bigamy Act andPoland Act, the paper's ownership was transferred to The Deseret News Company following incorporation on September 3, 1880.[9]: 183 About this same time theNews began looking for a location to build a new paper mill, as the Sugar House paper plant was inadequate. A newgranite plant was constructed near the mouth ofBig Cottonwood Canyon, 13 miles south of the paper's offices. The mill began producing paper in April 1883, and was known as theCottonwood Paper Mill.[15] TheNews would sell the paper mill in 1892 to the Granite Paper Mills Company.[9]: 199–200 The mill caught fire and was destroyed April 1, 1893.
On October 1, 1892, The Deseret News Company leased theNews along with all the company's printing, bookbinding, and merchandising to theCannon family. The family was, at that time, operating the George Q. Cannon & Sons bookstore in downtown Salt Lake City. When the lease began the family formed the Deseret News Printing Company, which was to be the lessee, while The Deseret News Company would remain a legal entity as the lessor. Two children of formerNews editor George Q. Cannon would play prominent roles during this period, withJohn Q. Cannon as editor andAbraham H. Cannon as business manager.[9]: 207–208 The leasing had occurred due to financial troubles, and the Cannon family hoped to make the business profitable. This did not happen and the paper's assets and property were transferred back to The Deseret News Company on September 7, 1898; after almost six years under the control of the Cannon family. The family's Deseret News Publishing Company was dissolved after the lease was gone, and within a few months The Deseret News Company was also dissolved and ownership of the paper was returned directly to the LDS Church.[9]: 225–226
When the LDS Church regained direct control over theNews, Horace G. Whitney was appointed business manager and Charles W. Penrose returned as editor. Immediately the paper's weekly edition,The Deseret Weekly, was discontinued; its last issue was published December 10, 1898.[9]: 230–231
On October 1, 1900, the George Q. Cannon & Sons bookstore was sold to the LDS Church, and renamed the Deseret News Bookstore. In 1920 the Deseret Sunday School Union Bookstore was also consolidated into the Deseret News Bookstore, and eventually the bookstore would become its own company,Deseret Book.
In 1903 theNews moved out from its longtime home in the Deseret Store, kitty-corner to a newly constructed building. This was the first time the paper had a building constructed expressly for it. It was designed byRichard K.A. Kletting and built with stone fromMount Nebo in Central Utah. While the building was under construction, a fire destroyed theOregon Short Line building in Salt Lake City, and the railroad wanted to rent space in the new building. As a result, theNews constructed an annex to the west of the new building for more space.[9]: 243–244 This new home was at the site of the formerCouncil House; presently the Beneficial Tower (Gateway Tower West) sits at this location.
The daily, called theDeseret Evening News, was renamed to theDeseret News on June 15, 1920; the paper's 70th anniversary. The semi-weekly was discontinued on June 22, 1922, leaving the daily as the only news publication. Two days later theNews announced it had purchased theUtah Farmer, a weekly agricultural paper; which it would eventually sell.[9]: 283–284
In 1926 theNews once again moved into a new building, this time on Richard's Street (just south of the present Deseret Book store inCity Creek Center.) This same year, theNews began usingteletype technology to receive news from theAssociated Press.[9]: 288–289
During the 1920s the paper's circulation nearly doubled, reaching almost 40,000.[9]: 291
On November 20, 1920, theNews began airing nightly wireless news flashes, called theDeseret News-International News Service bulletins. The paper had also formed The Deseret News Wireless Club, with members across theWestern United States who would transcribe the radio bulletins and post them in their communities.[9]: 269 In April 1922 the paper received a license to officially operate a radio station, with call letters KZN (later changed toKSL). The station's first regular broadcast aired on May 6, 1922, in the form of a talk by then-LDS Church presidentHeber J. Grant.[16] In 1924 the station was sold to John Cope and his father, F.W. Cope, who formed the Radio Service Corporation of Utah. The LDS Church would later purchase this corporation and go on to createKSL-TV.[17] TheNews, KSL Radio, and KSL Television remain closely linked via the global operating company,Deseret Management Corporation, which also ownsBonneville International,Deseret Book Company, and Deseret Media Company, among other organizations.
TheDeseret News had been under the direct ownership of the Church since 1898, when The Deseret News Company was dissolved. On December 29, 1931, theDeseret News Publishing Company was incorporated (not to be confused with the Deseret News Publishing Company formed in 1892 by the Cannon family to lease ownership of the paper, and dissolved when the lease was over). Its articles of incorporation, filed with theSalt Lake County Clerk, provided for 500 shares of stock, all retained by the Church (with the exception of the qualifying directors' shares).[18]
On May 16, 1948, theDeseret News would deliver its first Sunday paper. The first Sunday edition contained 154 pages with a new farm, home, and garden section.[9] The Sunday edition would continue into the 1950s, when an agreement withThe Salt Lake Tribune would cease publication.
After World War II theDeseret News,The Salt Lake Tribune and theSalt Lake Telegram were all struggling financially, but no more than theDeseret News. In September 1952, the owners of theNews (LDS Church) andTribune (Thomas Kearns Family) entered into ajoint operating agreement (JOA), where each published separate editorial material while sharing printing, advertising and circulation costs. This JOA was the brainchild ofTribune PublisherJohn F. Fitzpatrick who helped LDS PresidentDavid O. McKay ensure the continuation of theDeseret News. As its architect, Fitzpatrick knew that this NAC arrangement would also benefit theTribune. TheDeseret News stopped Sunday publication; subscribers received a SundayTribune instead. TheDeseret News also purchased the afternoonSalt Lake Telegram from theTribune. TheTelegram was discontinued, and into the mid-1960s, the paper's nameplate read:The Deseret News and Salt Lake Telegram. The 30-year agreement between the two papers was renewed in 1982, with some changes. The Newspaper Agency Corporation was renamed to MediaOne of Utah in 2007.
In 1968 theDeseret News once again moved, this time into a new building on Regent Street.
The joint operating agreement with theTribune in 1952 had ended the paper's Sunday edition, but when the 30-year-old agreement was up for renewal, it was changed to allow theDeseret News to publish a Sunday morning edition and change its Saturday publication from an evening to morning paper.[19] The first Sunday morning edition of theDeseret News appeared January 16, 1983, and the paper has published a Sunday edition ever since.
The newspaper moved into its newly constructed headquarters on Regent Streetdowntown Salt Lake City in 1997.
As the twentieth century ended, theDeseret News found itself embroiled in a contentious and often public battle withThe Salt Lake Tribune, centered around the terms of their joint operating agreement, the desire of theDeseret News to switch from afternoon to morning publication, and ownership changes at theTribune. The battle was resolved with the 2000 sale of theTribune[20] and with theDeseret News switching to morning publication and changing its name on June 9, 2003, to theDeseret Morning News.
On January 26, 1995, theDeseret News launched the Crossroads Information Network, allowing subscribers to access theNews digitally through their dial-up service; digital-only subscriptions were also created. Installation of the Crossroads software—which was mailed onfloppy disk to each subscriber beginning in February 1995—was required on each user's computer. The network also allowed users to access the paper's complete text along with archives back to April 1988, theChurch News and the LDS Church Almanac. The software allowed subscribers to communicate with each other through an email-like system.[21][22] Eventually the Crossroads Information Network was shut down and its features were moved to DesNews.com, which itself was replaced with DeseretNews.com.
The paper's first website, DesNews.com, was launched on September 27, 1995. This allowedNews content to be accessed through an internet website, rather than the software required by Crossroads. The website was meant for those outside the Salt Lake area, who had to pay long-distance calling charges when dialed into the Crossroads network.[23][24]
On April 13, 2008, Joseph A. Cannon announced in a front page editor's note that the name of the newspaper had been changed back to theDeseret News, although theNews would continue to be published in the morning.[25]
In 2010, theDeseret News moved its offices out of the Deseret News Building to the broadcast house in theTriad Center, so they could integrate withKSL's newsroom.[26]
In November 2016, Doug Wilks became the editor of theDeseret News.[27]
In October 2016, breaking an 80-year tradition of staying out of U.S. presidential politics, theDeseret News editorial board urgedDonald Trump to resign his candidacy.[28]
In October 2020, theDeseret News andThe Salt Lake Tribune announced the dissolution of their decades-long Joint Operating Agreement to share printing facilities.[29] With the end of the agreement, both publications were free to contract printing needs with third parties and chart their futures independent of each other. After the dissolution became apparent, theDeseret News made the decision to end its daily print edition beginning January 1, 2021 (after just over 153 years of daily publication). The daily print edition was replaced with a new weekly local edition and the company would continue to print the weekly national edition,Church News, and introduce theDeseret Magazine.[30][31] Starting March 23, 2022, theDeseret News began publication of the semiweekly local edition, bringing print publication of their local edition to twice weekly.[32]
In December 2020, theDeseret News editorial board again broke political neutrality by denouncing Utah Attorney GeneralSean Reyes's decision to support alawsuit requesting that theUS Supreme Court withhold the certified vote count from four states following the2020 presidential election.[33]
In 2021, Utah's SenatorMike Lee demanded a retraction after astatement attributed to him (regarding a phone call held during theJanuary 6 United States Capitol attack), and published in theDeseret News on January 7, 2021, was brought up during thesecond impeachment trial of Donald Trump.[34]
The paper's first website, DesNews.com, was launched on September 27, 1995. The domain was later changed to DeseretNews.com, and changed again in August 2019 to Deseret.com.[35]
TheDeseret News launched native iOS apps in December 2011.[36] An Android version of the app was later released for the Google Play Store.
TheDeseret News Local Edition is published twice weekly.
TheDeseret News National Edition is a national weekly print paper concentrating its reporting and feature articles on areas including family, faith, education, and other values core to the LDS faith.[37] It is available for delivery throughout the United States.
TheDeseret News launched its monthly magazine in 2021,[38] which publishes ten times a year with a double issue in July/August and January/February. The magazine covers the people and culture of the Deseret region (from the Sierras to the Rockies, from the border of Mexico to the Pacific Northwest) and its intersection with the broader world. It includes essays on politics, culture, and faith from local and national thought leaders as well as other narratives and profiles.
In addition to coverage of Utah and the broader region, theDeseret News also publishes content under its "Faith" section that features stories related to religion, churches and places of worship, and topics that intersect with faith such as Supreme Court rulings and religious education. These topics cover the breadth of beliefs across the United States, including but not limited to the LDS Church. Previously, content under the "Faith" section included only news unrelated to the LDS Church, with news related to the LDS Church covered byMormon Times.[39]
TheDeseret News also publishes a weekly compact-sized insert, theChurch News. TheChurch News includes news of the LDS Church and has been published since 1931. From 1974 to 2013, theDeseret News also published the Church Almanac, an annual edition carrying LDS Church facts and statistics edited byChurch News staff.
Mormon Times was created as a publication with its own independent circulation base and also as the Religion section of theDeseret News in January 2008.[40] In July 2011, theDeseret News's religion section was renamed "Faith", with theMormon Times label applying only to its LDS-themed content.[41] Since then, theMormon Times name has been retired with all content related to religion of all faiths publishing under the "Faith" section of theDeseret News.
On October 3, 2010, following the success of theMormon Times in print and online, a TV series premiered summarizing stories from the print version of theMormon Times, along with interviews, hosted by Michelle King.[42] The show has since been retired.
On August 7, 2020, following policies established in 2018 to stop using terms like "Mormon", etc.,Mormon Times changed its name toOf Good Report. It's currently exclusive to social media.
The newspaper's editors included the following:
Among those who have served as publisher of theDeseret News includeWendell J. Ashton (1978–85),William James Mortimer (1985–2000),[47] Jim Wall,[50] Chris Lee, Jeff Simpson, Robin Ritch (2021–2023),[51] andBurke Olsen[52] (2023–present).
In the 1972–1986 period when Smart was the editor,Gordon B. Hinckley andThomas S. Monson were among the presidents of the Deseret News Publishing Company.[53]
Summer 2010 saw multiple changes both in leadership and structure at theDeseret News. A new Opinion Editor,Paul S. Edwards, was appointed. Edwards had previously been provost atSouthern Virginia University and earlier a political science professor atBrigham Young University (BYU). Editor Joe Cannon and publisher Jim Wall stepped down.
During the summer of 2010 it was announced that theDeseret News for the first time ever would have a president and CEO;Clark Gilbert was appointed to this position. He was already CEO ofDeseret Digital Media. Gilbert announced the future ofDeseret News was leaner, and more online. In August 2010 he announced the layoffs of 85 staffers, 57 full-time and 28 part-time. It resulted in a reduction of 43% of the paper's entire staff.[26][54]
TheDeseret News also created an editorial advisory board to work with Gilbert and Edwards; it consisted of people with a broad variety of backgrounds:
TheDeseret News reporter Robert Mullins won aPulitzer Prize in 1962 for local reporting "for his resourceful coverage of a murder and kidnapping atDead Horse Point State Park".
{{cite press release}}:|last= has generic name (help)We're happy to announce the launch of our new midweek edition newspaper[.] Subscribe to our Utah Bundle today and start receiving the midweek paper delivered directly to your mailbox on March 23rd[.]
