Spencer M. Hadley has been interested in journalism as long as he can remember, and on Thursday he got his start on the editorial side of the profession - as publisher.
Although the 14-year-old eighth grader from Mueller Park Junior High was named the Deseret News' "publisher for a day," it's not his first job in journalism. He is a newspaper carrier for the paper. In fact, all four brothers and two sisters also have earned extra money as paper carriers.Spencer, the son of Steve and Shirley Hadley of Bountiful, accompanied publisher Wm. James Mortimer as he worked through his busy schedule on Thursday. At dawn, as they toured the news room, Spencer said he hoped to find out if the paper really was full of Clark Kents and Lois Lanes.
He said he was impressed with "the way things run around here, how all the complicated information comes in. How they put it together so fast is what really amazes me."
Spencer said he would have expected reporters and editors had more time to work on the information.
His winning essay compared the job of publisher to a football coach's duties, calling all the shots.
The Deseret News has changed since he visited it at age 9, he said. For one thing, the place seems to be redecorated, he said.
Spencer added that he might be interested in working on the school's monthly newsletter after this experience.