Stop the Press

by James W. Ure

  49. Arvid Keeson, “Deseret News Conspires to Expedite Demise of Salt Lake Tribune,” Utah Stories, May 27, 2014, http://www.utahstories.com/2014/05/salt-lake-tribune-likely-closure/ (accessed August 24, 2017).

  50. Semerad, “Deseret News CEO.”

  51. Phone calls and emails for interviews or comments went unanswered or were deflected by the following individuals: Brent Low, chairman of the board, Newspaper Agency Corporation, aka Media One of Utah (JOA), telephone discussion, September 24, 2015; Eric D. Hawkins, senior media manager and spokesman for the presidency, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, email exchange, December 26, 2016; Kristen Howey, LDS Church spokeswoman, telephone conversation regarding photographs, July 26, 2016; Doug Wilks, editor, Deseret News, email requesting interview, December 26, 2016; Paul Edwards, former editor, Deseret News, phone calls on December 26, 2016; email, December 26, 2016; two subsequent phone calls, January 8, 2017, and January 13, 2017.

  52. Email from author to Clark Gilbert, March 20, 2016. Clark Gilbert, in responding email to author, March 20, 2016, referred all questions to the current management of the Deseret News.

  53. Wikipedia, s.v. “List of Presidents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” last updated August 24, 2017, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints (accessed August 24, 2017).

  54. Nancy Conway, “Declaration,” June 15, 2014, http://www.utahnewspaperproject.org/userfiles/file/Conway%20Declaration.pdf (accessed October 3, 2017).

  55. Tony Semerad, “Suit Seeks to Block Utah Newspaper Deal, Argues It Dooms the Tribune,” Salt Lake Tribune, June 16, 2014, http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=58074486&itype=CMSID (accessed August 16, 2016).

  56. Complaint for Injunctive and Declaratory Relief, Utah Newspaper Project dba Citizens for Two Voices, plaintiffs, vs. Deseret News Publishing Company and Kearns-Tribune LLC, defendants, U.S. District Court, District of Utah, July 28, 2014, http://www.utahnewspaperproject.org/userfiles/file/Amended%20complaint%20challenging%20JOA.pdf

  57. Porter, in discussion with the author.

  58. Ibid.

  59. Ibid.

  60. Ibid.

  61. Author in attendance, September 8, 2014, personal observations.

  62. Joan O'Brien, in conversation with the author, October 7, 2015.

  63. A spokesman representing Justin Dempsey for the Department of Justice declined an interview with Dempsey on the basis of case confidentiality. Dempsey is a trial attorney for the Department of Justice's Litigation III Section, Anti-Trust Division. Department of Justice, in telephone conversation with the author, January 12, 2017.

  64. Porter, in discussion with the author.

  65. Tony Semerad, “Judge Won't’ Dismiss Lawsuit against Tribune-Deseret News Deal,” Salt Lake Tribune, September 8, 2014, http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=58388987&itype=CMSID (accessed August 24, 2017).

  66. O'Brien, in discussion with the author, April 19, 2015.

  67. Porter, in discussion with the author.

  68. Ibid.

  69. Philip McCarthey and Tom McCarthey, in discussion with the author, July 8, 2014.

  70. Ibid.

  71. Anonymous former reporter for the Salt Lake Tribune, in conversation with the author, March 2015.

  72. Anonymous former reporter for the Salt Lake Tribune, in conversation with the author, March 2015.

  73. Tom McCarthey, in discussion with the author, April 26, 2016.

  74. Ibid.

  CHAPTER 28: ENTER AND REENTER THE HUNTSMAN FAMILY

  1. Karra J. Porter, in discussion with the author, December 20, 2016.

  2. Joan O'Brien, in discussion with the author, August 5, 2016.

  3. Terry Orme, in discussion with the author, October 10, 2016.

  4. Ibid.

  5. Matt Canham and Thomas Burr, Mormon Rivals: The Romneys, the Huntsmans, and the Pursuit of Power (Salt Lake City: Salt Lake Tribune, 2015).

  6. Orme, in discussion with the author.

  7. Patty Henetz, in discussion with the author, October 8, 2015.

  8. Ibid.

  9. Orme, in discussion with the author.

  10. Dominic Welch, in discussion with the author, October 5, 2016.

  11. Wikipedia, s.v. “Jon Huntsman Sr.,” last updated July 31, 2017, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Huntsman_Sr. (accessed August 7, 2016).

  12. Ibid.

  13. Wikipedia, s.v. “Jon Huntsman Jr.” last edited October 2, 2017, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Huntsman_Jr. (accessed October 2, 2017).

  14. Joyce E. Cutler, “An FBI Agent was Stabbed and Two 17-Year-Old…” UPI, December 9, 1987, http://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/12/09/An-FBI-agent-was-stabbed-and-and-two-17-year-old/1379566024400/?spt=su (accessed October 1, 2017).

  15. “Abby Huntsman,” Fox News, http://www.foxnews.com/person/h/abby-huntsman.html (accessed October 1, 2017).

  16. “About Paul Huntsman, the Potential Next Owner of the Tribune,” Salt Lake Tribune, April 20, 2016, http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=3800481&itype=CMSID (accessed April 20, 2016).

  17. Anonymous JOA source, in discussion with the author, August 2016.

  18. O'Brien, in discussion with the author.

  19. James E. Shelledy, in discussion with the author, September 26, 2016.

  20. Joan O'Brien, reading from an internal Tribune memo (author unknown) in discussion with the author, August 5, 2016.

  21. Calls and emails to Senator Dabakis in 2015 and 2016 went unanswered.

  22. Robert Gehrke, “Modern Mormon's Culture Drives Them to GOP,” Salt Lake Tribune, September 16, 2015, http://www.sltrib.com/info/staff/1576911–155/mormons-church-percent-political-republican-authors (accessed August 16, 2016).

  23. Michael McFall, “Sen. Jim Dabakis Is One of the People Trying to Buy the Salt Lake Tribune,” Salt Lake Tribune, April 5, 2016, http://www.sltrib.com/news/2016/04/06/sen-jim-dabakis-is-one-of-the-people-trying-to-buy-the-salt-lake-tribune/ (accessed August 16, 2016).

  24. Henetz, in discussion with the author.

  25. Jill Lepore, “The Disruption Machine,” New Yorker, June 23, 2014, http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/06/23/the-disruption-machine (accessed August 16, 2016).

  26. Will Bagley, in discussion with the author, July 2, 2014.

  27. Tony Semerad, “Huntsman Family Buying the Salt Lake Tribune, Hopes to Insure Independent Voice for Future Generations,” Salt Lake Tribune, April 21, 2016, http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=3799365&itype=CMSID (accessed August 18, 2016).

  28. Ibid.

  29. Ibid.

  30. Matt Canham, “Prospective Owner of the Tribune. Ownership of Utah's Largest Paper Would Provide a Bullhorn—If He Wants to Use It,” Salt Lake Tribune, May 13, 2016, http://www.sltrib.com/home/3832090–155/you-dont-know-paul-huntsman-owning (accessed August 18, 2016).

  31. O'Brien, in discussion with the author, August 5, 2016.

  32. Porter, in discussion with the author, December 21, 2016.

  33. O'Brien in discussion with the author, August 5, 2016.

  34. Associated Press, “The Latest: Huntsman Bought Tribune to Preserve Unique Voice,” May 31, 2016, https://apnews.com/790691a66f804087b947d55034b28ea5/latest-huntsman-bought-tribune-preserve-unique-voice (accessed October 2, 2017).

  35. Anonymous JOA source, in discussion with the author, October 2016.

  36. Shelledy, in discussion with the author.

  37. O'Brien, in discussion with the author, August 5, 2016.

  38. Ibid.

  39. Ibid.

  40. Porter, in discussion with the author, December 20, 2016.

  41. Paul Huntsman, “Letter from the Salt Lake Tribune's New Publisher,” Salt Lake Tribune, June 3, 2016, http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=3951909&itype=CMSID (accessed August 24, 2017).

  42. Ibid.

  43. Tony Semerad, “Salt Lake Tribune Names New Top Managing Editor, Adds Columnist,” Salt Lake Tribune, November 22, 2016, http://archive.sl
trib.com/article.php?id=4621742&itype=CMSID (accessed November 20, 2016).

  44. Bryan Schott, “Poll: Utahns Want the Salt Lake Tribune to Continue Publishing,” Utah Policy (blog), May 26, 2016, http://utahpolicy.com/index.php/features/today-at-utah-policy/9641-poll-utahns-want-the-salt-lake-tribune-to-continue-publishing?tmpl=component&print=1&page (accessed August 19, 2016).

  45. Michael D. Gallivan, in discussion with the author, August 17, 2016.

  46. Shelledy, in discussion with the author, September 26, 2016.

  47. Save the Salt Lake Tribune, Facebook post, April 24, 2016, 1:52 p.m., https://www.facebook.com/savethesaltlaketribune/posts/1206856989334709?comment_id=1206921075994967&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%22%7D (accessed August 4, 2016).

  48. Matt Canham, “Don't Know Paul Huntsman? His Ownership of the Salt Lake Tribune May Change That,” Salt Lake Tribune, June 1, 2016, http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=3832090&itype=CMSID (accessed October 1, 2017).

  49. Porter, in discussion with the author, December 20, 2016.

  50. Ibid.

  51. Telephone calls (July 9, 2016, and December 28, 2016), emails (May 17, 2016, and December 28, 2016), and requests via third parties (October 2016) went unanswered.

  52. Canham, “Don't Know Paul Huntsman?”

  53. Ibid.

  54. Ibid.

  55. Anonymous person close to the family in discussion with author, September 14, 2016.

  56. Paul Huntsman, Facebook post, October 25, 2011, 9:09 a.m., https://www.facebook.com/paul.huntsman.3/posts/2551841353553 (accessed August 28, 2017); Paul Huntsman, Facebook post, November 5, 2012, 5:03 p.m., https://www.facebook.com/paul.huntsman.3/posts/4797426371775 (accessed August 28, 2017).

  57. Orme, in discussion with the author, June 16, 2016.

  58. Ibid.

  59. Ibid.

  60. Semerad, “Huntsman Family Buying the Salt Lake Tribune.”

  61. Jon M. Huntsman Sr., Barefoot to Billionaire: Reflection on a Life's Work and a Promise to Cure Cancer (New York: Overlook Duckworth 2014), pp. 185–86.

  62. Anonymous Salt Lake Tribune employee in discussion with the author, August 23, 2016.

  63. Semerad, “Salt Lake Tribune Names New Top Managing Editor.”

  64. Paul Rolly, in discussion with the author, August 5, 2016.

  65. Orme, in discussion with the author, October 10, 2016.

  66. Benjamin Wood, “Salt Lake Tribune's New Editor, Napier-Pearce, Is Thrilled to Return to Paper, Praises Predecessor Orme,” Salt Lake Tribune, July 29, 2016, http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=4172798&itype=CMSID&pid=3467361 (accessed October 24, 2016).

  67. Ibid.

  68. O'Brien, in discussion with the author, November 29, 2016.

  69. Anonymous Salt Lake Tribune employee in discussion with the author, August 23, 2016.

  70. Shelledy, in discussion with the author, September 26, 2016.

  71. Wood, “Salt Lake Tribune's New Editor.”

  72. Semerad, “Salt Lake Tribune Names New Top Managing Editor.”

  73. Ibid.

  74. A Tribune editor who requested anonymity, in discussion and emails with the author, January 12, 2017.

  75. Jennifer Napier-Pearce, in discussion with the author, January 11, 2017.

  76. Ibid.

  77. “Mormon Leaks,” YouTube video channel, posted by MormonLeaks, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJTIFO9JJWiXABNXHDUKj4A (accessed October 3, 2016).

  78. Matt Canham, “Leaked Videos Show Mormon Apostles Discussing Political Influence, Gay Marriage, Marijuana, and More,” Salt Lake Tribune, October 19, 2016, http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=4423214&itype=CMSID (accessed August 25, 2017).

  79. Personal observation by the author, November 9, 2016.

  80. Napier-Pearce, in discussion with the author.

  81. Ibid.

  82. Benjamin Wood, “Huntsman Calls for ‘Inept’ U. Administrators to Be Fired over Cancer Institute's CEO's Termination,” Salt Lake Tribune, April 21, 2017, http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=5203352&itype=CMSID (accessed August 17, 2017).

  83. Ibid.

  84. “Tribune Editorial: It Is Time for New Leadership at the University of Utah and Its Health Sciences Colleges,” Salt Lake Tribune, April 22, 2017, http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=5195473&itype=CMSID (accessed August 17, 2017).

  85. Alex Stuckey and Benjamin Wood, “University of Utah President Stepping Down; Successor will Pick Permanent Health Sciences V.P.,” Salt Lake Tribune, May 3, 2017, http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=5239033&itype=CMSID (accessed October 1, 2017).

  86. Joan O'Brien, speech to the First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City, June 2016.

  CHAPTER 29: WHITHER THE LDS CHURCH?

  1. Chuck Clark, “Op-Ed: An Inclusive Vision for Utah's Pioneer Day Parade,” Salt Lake Tribune, July 24, 2016, http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=4138189&itype=CMSID (accessed October 3, 2016).

  2. Polly Aird, Jeff Nichols, and Will Bagley, Playing with Shadows: Voices of Dissent in the Mormon West (Norman, OK: Arthur H. Clark, 2011), p. 13.

  3. Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling, Mormon America: The Power and the Promise (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1999), p. 252; Wikipedia, s.v. “Mark Hofmann,” last updated August 2, 2017, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Hofmann (accessed August 25, 2017).

  4. Michael D. Gallivan, in conversation with the author, August 17, 2016.

  5. Tad Walch, “More Expansive Boundaries, Not ‘Bubbles’ for LDS Church, Otterson Says,” Deseret News, April 12, 2016, http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865652045/LDS-Church-boundaries-more-expansive-than-restrictive-Michael-Otterson-says-at-UVU.html?pg=all (accessed April 12, 2016).

  6. Richard E. Turley Jr., “The Mountain Meadows Massacre,” Ensign, September 2007, https://www.lds.org/ensign/2007/09/the-mountain-meadows-massacre?lang=eng (accessed August 25, 2017).

  7. Peggy Fletcher Stack, “LDS Church Publishes Volume with a More Scholarly Approach to Mormon History,” Salt Lake Tribune, December 21, 2016, http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=4740751&itype=CMSID (accessed August 25, 2017).

  8. Peggy Fletcher Stack, “Mass Exodus from LDS? Stats Paint a Different Picture,” Salt Lake Tribune, November 17, 2016, http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=4535962&itype=CMSID (accessed August 25, 2017).

  9. Utah Lighthouse Ministry, “About Us,” http://www.utlm.org/navaboutus.htm (accessed October 2, 2017).

  10. Recovery from Mormonism, http://www.exmormon.org/ (accessed October 3, 2016); Mormon Curtain, http://www.mormoncurtain.com/ (accessed October 3, 2016).

  11. Wikipedia, s.v. “Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies,” last updated April 15, 2017, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_for_Ancient_Research_and_Mormon_Studies (accessed October 3, 2016).

  12. Sunstone homepage, https://www.sunstonemagazine.com/ (accessed October 3, 2016).

  13. Dana Haight Cattani, “The Stubborn Ounces of My Weight,” Sunstone, April 5, 2016, https://www.sunstonemagazine.com/the-stubborn-ounces-of-my-weight/ (accessed January 2, 2017).

  14. Joan O'Brien, in discussion with the author, April 9, 2015.

  15. Christy Money, “Those Who Leave the Church Deserve Unconditional Love,” Salt Lake Tribune, December 4, 2016, http://saltlaketribune.ut.newsmemory.com/?token=b5409f4b3316270ed822043e7c01b79a_5844577b_42e7a4e&selDate=20161204 (accessed December 4, 2016).

  16. Ibid.

  17. Anonymous, “Why I Can't ‘Leave the Church Alone,’” Zelph on the Shelf (blog), http://zelphontheshelf.com/why-i-cant-leave-the-church-alone/ (accessed October 26, 2016).

  18. Rod Decker, KUTV Ch. 2 (Salt Lake City) reporter, in discussion with the author, January 20, 2017.

  19. Lee Davidson, “With Utah Legislature's Mormon Supermajority, Is It Representative of the People?” Salt Lake Tribune, December 12, 2016, http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=4663941&itype=CMSID (accessed October 1, 2017).

  20. Ibid.

  21. Annie Knox, “One Answer to Utah's Teac
her Shortage: Hire People Who Are Not Teachers,” Salt Lake Tribune, June 15, 2016, http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=4006906&itype=CMSID (accessed August 25, 2017).

  22. Benjamin Wood, “Working Two Jobs Is Simple Math for Teachers,” Salt Lake Tribune, November 27, 2016, http://saltlaketribune.ut.newsmemory.com/?token=e533de8e9d857d64fffb702738197494_583b23a0_42e7a4e&selDate=20161127 (accessed November 27, 2016).

  23. Editorial, “Our Schools Now: Need for School Money Is Real,” Salt Lake Tribune, January 8, 2017, http://saltlaketribune.ut.newsmemory.com/?token=faac5004771cefafb46ff97f94a7535b_587280f1_42e7a4e&selDate=20170108 (accessed January 8, 2017).

  24. Personal observation of the author, a consistent reader of the letters to the editor.

  25. American Lung Association, “State of the Air 2015: Salt Lake City-Provo-Orem, UT,” http://www.stateoftheair.org/2015/msas/salt-lake-city-provo-orem-ut.html#pm24 (accessed October 4, 2015).

  26. George Pyle, “Medicaid Expansion Rides Again,” Salt Lake Tribune, March 28, 2017 http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=5111604&itype=CMSID (accessed October 3, 2017); Bob Bernick, “Poll: Utahns Want Larger Medicaid Expansion,” Utah Policy.com, April 26, 2016, http://utahpolicy.com/index.php/features/today-at-utah-policy/9290-poll-utahns-want-larger-medicaid-expansion (accessed October 1, 2017).

  27. Lindsay Whitehurst, “Report: Tourism Spending in Utah Grew to Nearly $8 Billion,” Associated Press, May 25, 2016, https://apnews.com/f26763ab48d448fa8974955a78f6ae1c/report-tourism-spending-utah-grew-nearly-8-billion (accessed October 5, 2017).

  28. Paul C. Burke, John Mackay, and Brett L. Tollman, “It's Okay to Be Gay, and Utah Teachers Need to Be Able to Say It Is,” Salt Lake Tribune, November 6, 2016, http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=4533227&itype=CMSID (accessed August 25, 2017).

  29. Carl Wimmer, “The Role of the LDS Church in Utah's Politics,” Mormonism Research Ministry, http://www.mrm.org/utah-politics (accessed August 25, 2017).

  30. Peggy Fletcher Stack, “Mormon Conversions Lag behind Huge Missionary Growth,” Salt Lake Tribune, May 2, 2014, http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=57862203&itype=CMSID (accessed August 25, 2017).

  31. Peggy Fletcher Stack, “How Much Do Top Mormon Leaders Make? Leaked Pay Stubs May Surprise You,” Salt Lake Tribune, January 9, 2017, http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=4800350&itype=CMSID (accessed August 25, 2017).