The Utah newspaper war is over. Or is it just beginning?
Most Utahns don't care, since they don't subscribe to either Salt Lake City daily newspaper. A majority of those who subscribe care most about comics, sports and television listings. This does not mean they are uninformed. Quite the contrary. They get all the news they have time to absorb, either through the newspaper or through television. (Most television viewers watch the news primarily to make sure they haven't missed anything important during the day.)
Fewer than one in five subscribers of this newspaper will read this column.
Those of us who put words together understand we are writing for a select few. And that's fine. Even the most popular writers are read by only a small percentage of citizens.
The point is that this silly battle between Utah's major newspapers is of small consequence over the long run. What really matters is the quality of the product.
I have read both newspapers for half a century. And because my vocation centers around journalism — as a consumer, a teacher and a participant — I followed the ownership controversy objectively. (Some who don't know me well will disagree with that statement.)
There is plenty of fault on both sides — too much anger, too much name calling, too many lawyers, too little rational discussion, too much manipulation of reality. Wise individuals would have settled the dispute without public airing of personal grievances.
The Deseret News has been trying to move to morning publication for at least a quarter of a century. Every attempt has been stymied. Observers can only conjecture about reasons behind the roadblocks.
On numerous occasions, the Tribune rejected overtures by news-oriented buyers. Only insiders know why Tribune owners suddenly decided to sell five years ago to a cable television company with no news interests.
Dean Singleton, new owner of the Tribune, is a good newspaper operator. But he is an absentee owner, and no matter how good their intentions, absentee owners never care as much about the community as local owners. In that regard, Utah may have been better served if the Tribune had remained with local ownership, but it's too late. Personal animosities poisoned the joint business arrangement.
None of these issues matter anymore. Perhaps they never did.
What matters is: What kind of newspapers will serve Utah readers?
The test is the overall quality of the two newspapers, including coverage (especially local), story selection, writing and so on.
Neither newspaper is a great newspaper. Both are better than one normally finds in a city this size.
The issue of "church influence" is overblown nonsense. At least 98 percent of news and editorial content has nothing to do with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As is true with most news organizations, only a small number of editorial decisions are influenced by ownership or management bias.
For a number of years, the Deseret News lacked quality, due largely to factors that had nothing to do with ownership. For example, the paper was stuck with a dying news syndicate (UPI), while the Tribune had exclusive service from the only viable national news syndicate (AP). But in recent years, the quality of the Deseret News has improved dramatically.
At the same time, the Tribune declined in quality. It is in the process of improving itself, but it struggles to define its role. It considers itself an "independent voice" — whatever that means — but too often prefers driving wedges over building bridges. (It's easy to stir antagonisms. It's much harder to facilitate harmony.)
We are fortunate to have two daily newspapers in a city the size of Salt Lake City . . . plus other good dailies in Ogden, Provo and Logan (all absentee-owned) . . . and a superb group of community newspapers throughout the state. We should continue to support those newspapers.
The key, as always, is the quality of the product. No one will be corrupted by reading one newspaper rather than the other. Make your readership decisions based on coverage, accuracy, readability and fairness. And let's hope the combatants in this so-called "war" will stop acting like children and begin acting like rational adults.
The community will be better off with less litigation and more high-quality journalism.
G. Donald Gale is president of Words, Words, Words, Inc. He was formerly editorial director at KSL. He earned a Ph.D. at the University of Utah and was awarded an honorary doctorate by Southern Utah University. E-mail: dongale@words3.com