Scott Lloyd's gentle demeanor and laid-back personality belie his passion for the practice of journalism.
Since grade school, Lloyd has been firmly fixed on a career as a writer. He currently is living that dream as a reporter for the Church News, which appears each Saturday as a section of the Deseret News and is mailed to another 160,000 homes outside the Deseret News circulation area.His Church News responsibilities include covering the LDS Church's Melchizedek Priesthood department, music in the church, news in three sizable geographical areas including the British Isles, church history and writing a variety of feature articles.
All of these he does very well, according to his colleagues. "When Scott writes a story, he understands the subject thoroughly, then puts it together in a very clear, creative and compelling way that pulls readers into his work," said co-worker John Hart, with whom Lloyd has worked for more than 10 years. "He also is the office authority on grammar and usage."
Lloyd's knack for wordplay goes back to his earliest remembrance. Though he spent the first 13 years of life on a farm in what was then Crescent - now part of Sandy - Scott cared little for typical rural outdoor activities; he preferred to write. And it didn't hurt that his family, teachers and friends provided regular positive reinforcement for his work.
In the third and fourth grades, "teachers gave us many opportunities for creative writing," he recalled. "I wrote a lot about going into space, detective stories, super-hero kinds of things. Often the other kids in the class would say, `Let's hear what Scott wrote.' That kind of became my thing, my identity. That lasted through high school. Others had sports or music, debate or drama, but writing was what I enjoyed most."
While still in elementary school, Lloyd and a few friends started a newspaper. They used a note pad and carbon paper and reported the school news in longhand.
"The project died of its own weight," recalled Lloyd, chuckling. "It was too labor-intensive."
During that same time period, his feelings about journalism deepened as he observed television and print practitioners reporting on significant national events, including space shots and the John F. Kennedy assassination. "Those reporters were impressive to me, as they would stand and tell others what was happening, or as they wrote about it," said Lloyd. "They seemed to know what was going on and could interpret those events for millions of other people. I thought it would be great to do the same."
As a Jordan Beetdigger, Lloyd regularly penned "Scott's Spot" for the school paper, The Broadcaster. He provided regular commentary, often laced with sardonic undertones, regarding school-related issues and events. Work in scholastic journalism continued at BYU, where Lloyd majored in communication (journalism emphasis), worked on the Daily Universe as assistant editorial page editor and graduated in 1980. The only hiatus in his writing occurred from 1974-76, when he served a two-year LDS mission in Sweden.
While a university student, Lloyd also filled a five-month internship at the Las Vegas Review-Journal covering city government, the county health board and various major conventions. It was in Vegas that he had his "brush with greatness," as he put it.
After covering an autograph party featuring F. Lee Bailey at a bookstore in North Las Vegas, Lloyd was asked by Bailey and his press agent for a ride back to their hotel. "I was driving an old Volkswagen Beetle with oxidized paint; F. Lee Bailey rode shotgun. When I let him off he said, `If this had been anything but a Volkswagen, we would pay for the ride.' "
Upon completion of his schooling, Lloyd was hired at the Price Sun Advocate. There he spent three years writing editorials and covering city government, labor issues, police and courts. He went to the Ogden Standard-Examiner in 1983, living in Brigham City for a time while covering Box Elder County before moving to Ogden to cover courts.
He made the move to the Church News in 1985 and has been going strong since. A connoisseur of music - with an appreciation for everything from religious hymns to classical pieces to jazz to rock 'n' roll oldies, of which he boasts a huge personal library - Lloyd puts in many hours playing his old upright piano and occasionally his electric guitar. He will be married May 22, which has him giddy in his quiet sort of way. Through it all he continues to write. And though his work in Church News includes some advocacy writing and differs from the traditional journalistic role, he expressed satisfaction in writing about a church and cause to which he has deep commitment.
"I see journalism as a noble calling. The fact that some practitioners exploit conflict and sensationalize doesn't diminish its importance. The role of a free press in a democratic society and free-market economy is absolutely essential. Our society would collapse without it."
Pretty serious thinking for a former farm boy.