Dirk Facer

Dirk Facer

Five-time Utah Sports Writer of the Year (National Sports Media Association) and nine-time finalist, Facer is the longest-tenured full-time sports writer at the Deseret News — entering his 27th year with the newspaper. First-place writing accolades include the Rocky Mountain College Press Association, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Utah-Idaho-Spokane Associated Press and Best of the West. Honored for Distinguished Service by the Utah High School Activities Association, Facer served as editor in chief of the Daily Utah Chronicle in its 100th year of publication and received the SPJ Mark of Excellence Award upon graduation. Duties at the Deseret News have included stints as prep sports, NBA editor and assistant section editor, as well as beat writer for BYU, Salt Lake Bees, Utah, Utah Grizzlies, Utah Predators, Utah State and Weber State. He's credited for breaking news of Karl Malone's first NBA MVP award and numerous other stories. Besides representing the Deseret News on ESPN, FOX sports, the Mountain, the NFL Network, Pac-12 Networks and local broadcasts — plus national and Salt Lake City radio shows — Facer has written articles for the NCAA Final Four program, NCAA basketball tournament regional publications and several bowl games. He is the author of the book "BCS Breakthrough." Facer is a former AP Top 25 voter and is currently in the voting pool for several college football awards.