Doug Wilks

https://www.deseret.com/authors/doug-wilks/rss

Doug Wilks is the executive editor of the Deseret News. His four-decade news career as reporter and editor included stints with Gannett in Marin County, California, and the New York Times Regional Media Group as an editor before joining the Deseret News in 2012. He resides in Salt Lake City with his wife, Christiana.

John Bolton, former national security adviser and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, poses for a photo in Salt Lake City on May 22, 2023.

U.S. & World

Former national security adviser John Bolton is asked a question: Are we safe?

In an exclusive interview with the Deseret News, he talks national security, what a presidential candidate should be talking about and whether Trump will win.

By Doug Wilks

Utah

World Trade Center Utah is looking for a new CEO, president

Current CEO and President Miles Hansen has accepted an offer to join the Stirling Foundation

By Doug Wilks

U.S. & World

Inside the Utah delegation’s face-to-face sit-down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Ukraine’s wartime president has a message for Utah and the nation.

By Doug Wilks

U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget A. Brink listens in a meeting with Utah leaders in Kyiv, Ukraine, on May 2, 2023.

U.S. & World

Why is the U.S. supporting Ukraine? Ambassador Bridget Brink has the answer

Exclusive interview: The Deseret News sat down with the ambassador to talk U.S. support for Ukraine and why this country will one day win the war and be a leader in Europe.

By Doug Wilks

Utah Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, To Ukraine With Love founder Svitlana Miller, center, and Wander COO Tiffany Vail consult the Signal and Air Alert! apps for updates on air strikes near the Kyiv Oblast (region).

U.S. & World

Air raids in Ukraine: In the bunker with Utah Senate President Stuart Adams

Air raid sirens sent the Utah Trade Mission underground in Kyiv, Ukraine.

By Doug Wilks and Katie McKellar

Armenian Ambassador to the United States Lilit Makunts is interviewed by Deseret News Executive Editor Doug Wilks at the news organization’s offices in Salt Lake City on Friday, April 7, 2023.

Utah

Is there an opportunity for Utah in Armenia? A conversation with Ambassador Lilit Makunts

“We can do more, be it education, science, economy, economic partnership, or trade partnership.”

By Doug Wilks

Illustration of a man lying with flowers

Perspective

The professor of happiness

Arthur Brooks — Harvard professor, past head of the American Enterprise Institute and once-aspiring musician — reveals the secret of contentment.

By Doug Wilks

Perspective

A conversation with America’s equal opportunity offender on the power of protest

Reza Aslan could make your list of the Top 5 People I Want to Invite to Dinner, but be forewarned, dinner conversation will focus on both politics AND religion.

By Doug Wilks

Steve Young, former BYU and NFL player and founder of the Forever Young Foundation, speaks at an event in 2021.

Faith

Steve Young is writing about love and it just might change you

Steve Young explores the law of love and says it just might unlock for you a better way of living and being.

By Doug Wilks

Politics

Here’s the one word you can’t say in a room full of Republicans

Elevating the conversation. Here’s how to bridge the political divide to provide stewardship of the earth.

By Doug Wilks

Attendees listen to a panel discussion at the World Government Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Tuesday, March 29, 2022.

Q&A

Are you ready for the speed of change? A conversation with the Minister of Artificial Intelligence in the United Arab Emirates

A look at the changing global economy, the response to the pandemic, and what governments and the private sector need to do together.

By Doug Wilks

A view of the human-made Palm Islands on the coast of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Saturday, March 26, 2022.

World & Nation

United Arab Emirates emerges from the desert and blossoms like a rose as World Expo closes

Pictures tell the story of Dubai.

By Doug Wilks

Business

Deseret Management Corp. adds new senior vice president of global reach

Aaron Sherinian has more than two decades of accomplished service as a public relations and communications professional in the corporate, philanthropic and diplomatic sectors.

By Doug Wilks

Salt Lake Chamber President and CEO Derek Miller presents Katharine Garff with the “Giant in our City” award.

Utah

Garff family honored for a life of service, devotion and philanthropy: They are ‘giants’

By Doug Wilks

Former Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch was awarded the Canterbury Medal by the Becket Fund.

Faith

Former Sen. Orrin Hatch honored for a life protecting religious liberty

Hatch honored for his commitment to the Constitution, ability to work across the aisle and his work promoting religious liberty for all.

By Doug Wilks

Deseret News

Deseret News announces new president and leadership changes

Robin Ritch was named president in a companywide announcement by Keith McMullin, CEO of Deseret Management Corp.

By Doug Wilks

Opinion

Learning to live without him

Inside the newsroom: Teresa and Willard’s love story

By Doug Wilks

Opinion

Introducing COVID-19 The Game, and notes on getting sick

A year into the pandemic, it seems COVID-19 has found its way into every aspect of the culture, from schools to churches to business and even into games on the playground.

By Doug Wilks

Opinion

Inside the newsroom: Can the example of others convince you to get a vaccination?

Convincing those who said they are not sure about the vaccine may be the key to Utah returning to some semblance of normalcy by fall.

By Doug Wilks

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Opinion

Inside the newsroom: Words matter, including the hateful ‘Murder the media’

Regardless of what one believes about the media or news coverage, can we agree on the need to eliminate violence?

By Doug Wilks

Opinion

Inside the newsroom: Let’s talk about something other than politics

Have you seen the program that’s changing lives?

By Doug Wilks

Opinion

Do you trust the media? If not, what do you do now?

The lessons from 2020 media coverage are only now beginning to be explored. Understanding those lessons will drive us into 2021.

By Doug Wilks

Opinion

Inside the newsroom: The future is now for the Deseret News

Two months ago I wrote a story announcing the future of the Deseret News. We are are now a week away from that new future, moving into year 171 for the Deseret News as we prepare to introduce a weekly print edition.

By Doug Wilks

Opinion

Inside the newsroom: COVID-19 and the death lottery

Each of those deceased lost the COVID-19 lottery. That sentence also feels too harsh to write. This is no movie.

By Doug Wilks

Opinion

Inside the newsroom: In search of inspiration, and finding it

A story of a Japanese mochi shop published Saturday in the New York Times has pandemic lessons about sacrifice and family.

By Doug Wilks

Opinion

The other crisis we’re not talking enough about

The opioid epidemic is now more than a decade old, and Utah was front and center in prescribing and promoting OxyContin and the painkillers that so many with chronic pain sought.

By Doug Wilks

Opinion

Inside the newsroom: A new perspective on the homeless. Can Thanksgiving launch us into a compassionate future?

Brooklyn sat on the grass wrapped in a hooded sweatshirt with his legs tucked in a sleeping bag. His mates, Christian and Richard, stood nearby. This is homelessness in Salt Lake City.

By Doug Wilks

Coronavirus

Inside the newsroom: My phone call with mom about COVID-19 and Thanksgiving

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert has put emergency orders in place, to be re-evaluated on Nov. 23. Saturday’s numbers don’t build optimism, but this can be turned around.

By Doug Wilks

Politics

Biden’s path to victory born in unlikely places, including on a March day in Salt Lake City

The Saturday decision for Biden will not be the end of the election fight: President Donald Trump released a statement Saturday morning vowing to continue.

By Doug Wilks

Opinion

In praise of Dr. Angela Dunn and accepting a dose of hard medicine

Saturday morning meeting with White House leaders underscored the key role Utah plays in the fight against the virus.

By Doug Wilks