Bill “Papa” Lee Posted April 12, 2018 Posted April 12, 2018 (edited) Early own in my Facebook setup account, have seen many links provided here at times, I decided to request a constant link to the Salt Lake Tribune. To me each story, be it politics, social issues, or stories of the Church, it always seems to be very unflattering of The Church. Even if the story is not overtly attacking the Church, the comments section is filled with posters who are almost always negative, in not downright hostel. In fact, I often see stories that no one who think it could have any link, but the posts in the comments section, make the link, anyway they can! Am I reading this correctly, is there truly such a basis? Edited April 12, 2018 by Bill “Papa” Lee
sunstoned Posted April 12, 2018 Posted April 12, 2018 (edited) I have also noticed that the online posters to SLTrib stories seem to be overly negative. They are usually much more negative that the original article. IMO, I think the Trib does a good job of reporting. They are not going to give the church a free pass, but they also don't intentionally take jabs at it either. Edited April 12, 2018 by sunstoned 3
Duncan Posted April 12, 2018 Posted April 12, 2018 There's a blog with this guy who attacks the Trib. He really doesn't like Peggy Fletcher Stack. When he isn't attacking it he has some nifty blog posts about historical episodes in Church history
Popular Post Jane_Doe Posted April 12, 2018 Popular Post Posted April 12, 2018 Comment sections are pig-pens on any news organization. As to the actual articles: newspapers thrive off of drama. So they're going to focus on it, even if it's to the point of making mountains out of molehills. 8
Popular Post katherine the great Posted April 12, 2018 Popular Post Posted April 12, 2018 3 hours ago, Bill "Papa" Lee said: Early own in my Facebook setup account, have seen many links provided here at times, I decided to request a constant link to the Salt Lake Tribune. To me each story, be it politics, social issues, or stories of the Church, it always seems to be very unflattering of The Church. Even if the story is not overtly attacking the Church, the comments section is filled with posters who are almost always negative, in not downright hostel. In fact, I often see stories that no one who think it could have any link, but the posts in the comments section, make the link, anyway they can! Am I reading this correctly, is there truly such a basis? The purpose of the Salt Lake Tribune originally was to give a different perspective from the extremely religious Deseret news and yes, it was decidedly anti-Mormon. I think the competition improved the Deseret news by 100%. The early Deseret News articles were absolutely horrible, rambling dissertations about religion, economics and politics which were really just weird rants--not newsy at all. Once true competition came around, Deseret news started to be more like a regular newspaper. 8
Marginal Gains Posted April 12, 2018 Posted April 12, 2018 3 hours ago, Bill "Papa" Lee said: Early own in my Facebook setup account, have seen many links provided here at times, I decided to request a constant link to the Salt Lake Tribune. To me each story, be it politics, social issues, or stories of the Church, it always seems to be very unflattering of The Church. Even if the story is not overtly attacking the Church, the comments section is filled with posters who are almost always negative, in not downright hostel. In fact, I often see stories that no one who think it could have any link, but the posts in the comments section, make the link, anyway they can! Am I reading this correctly, is there truly such a basis? Can you point to anything the Salt Lake Tribune has put out that, although very unflattering of The Church, has been inaccurate?
rpn Posted April 12, 2018 Posted April 12, 2018 I think it has long been the Trib's job to publicize things the church didn't choose to publish. And even challenge insular Mormon thinking. But I don't see the Trib as either ant- Church or anti-mormon. (Critics though would like it that way, I suspect: they were pretty upset this week over the Robert Kirby column about if you lose your faith because of bad leader behavior, you didn't have faith in the right things anyway.) 2
Scott Lloyd Posted April 12, 2018 Posted April 12, 2018 (edited) 10 hours ago, katherine the great said: The purpose of the Salt Lake Tribune originally was to give a different perspective from the extremely religious Deseret news and yes, it was decidedly anti-Mormon. I think the competition improved the Deseret news by 100%. The early Deseret News articles were absolutely horrible, rambling dissertations about religion, economics and politics which were really just weird rants--not newsy at all. Once true competition came around, Deseret news started to be more like a regular newspaper. I'm curious about whether you've spent much time reading issues of the Deseret News issues pre-1871 (the year the Tribune was founded) or if this is an impression you've gained from others' opinions that you've read. Also, I daresay most any typical 19th century journalism would appear quite different -- perhaps even inferior -- compared to today's standards. The point being that journalistic standards in general have evolved over the years and continue to do so. Edited April 12, 2018 by Scott Lloyd 2
Popular Post smac97 Posted April 12, 2018 Popular Post Posted April 12, 2018 (edited) 13 hours ago, Bill "Papa" Lee said: Early own in my Facebook setup account, have seen many links provided here at times, I decided to request a constant link to the Salt Lake Tribune. To me each story, be it politics, social issues, or stories of the Church, it always seems to be very unflattering of The Church. Even if the story is not overtly attacking the Church, the comments section is filled with posters who are almost always negative, in not downright hostel. In fact, I often see stories that no one who think it could have any link, but the posts in the comments section, make the link, anyway they can! Am I reading this correctly, is there truly such a basis? I think the Trib is a mixed bag. I appreciate its voice, but there are times when some articles come across as more partisan than objective about the Church. The Deseret News has the same problem, but in reverse. Where the Trib is sometimes partisan against the Church, the D News is sometimes partisan for it (that said, I think the Trib's bias is more pronounced). Many of the commenters who haunt the Trib's website are a hateful, bigoted lot. Thanks, -Smac Edited April 12, 2018 by smac97 5
HappyJackWagon Posted April 12, 2018 Posted April 12, 2018 13 hours ago, Bill "Papa" Lee said: Early own in my Facebook setup account, have seen many links provided here at times, I decided to request a constant link to the Salt Lake Tribune. To me each story, be it politics, social issues, or stories of the Church, it always seems to be very unflattering of The Church. Even if the story is not overtly attacking the Church, the comments section is filled with posters who are almost always negative, in not downright hostel. In fact, I often see stories that no one who think it could have any link, but the posts in the comments section, make the link, anyway they can! Am I reading this correctly, is there truly such a basis? I'm feeling a disconnect between your title and your post.The title of your post asks if the Trib is anti-Mormon but then you cite the comments section for your evidence. Is it fair to suggest the Trib is anti because many of their commenters may be? Are some stories unflattering? Of course. Why should anyone expect differently? For example, the BYU/Title IX stories weren't flattering for the church, yet they were true, and let to positive change. One could argue that the Trib helped to make BYU and the church better institutions. In my experience it's usually a mistake to label someone as anti, but it seems even less wise to label a newspaper anti based on comments posted by readers online. 2
Oliblish Posted April 12, 2018 Posted April 12, 2018 Every individual and every news provider has a bias. When the bias of the news provider doesn't match our own bias, we tend to label that news source as "biased" and imply it is inaccurate. Everyone has a different bias, so there are many different opinions on which news sources are biased. Just like some will claim that CNN is biased and Fox News is fair and balanced, there are others that will claim the opposite. I don't think there is a right answer to this, it is based on your point of view. We can do fact checking and call out errors when they are made. But measuring bias is tricky. It has become popular recently among some to label news organizations "Fake News" when they bring up things that are not favorable to certain leaders. I believe this should be avoided. I think labeling the Tribune as "anti-mormon" should be avoided as well. Those of us who were brought up in the church know there is a culture where it is not acceptable to say anything about the church that is not positive and faith affirming. Like Elder Oaks says: "It's wrong to criticize leaders of the church, even if the criticism is true." So when we see news articles that are not positive and even seem critical of the church and its leaders, it can be jarring. It is not surprising that faithful members will think that the Tribunes is unfairly biased against the church. There are probably ex-mormons that think it is too pro-church. I would guess that most impartial observers would fall in the middle somewhere, but it is difficult to be sure because I have my own biases 3
Jeanne Posted April 12, 2018 Posted April 12, 2018 I have always understood that SLT was another voice in Utah...a much needed one IMO. Just not so controlled and more open. That being said, I require that they are always accurate as I do for other papers. I love Kirby....Deseret News needs a Kirby in their own world. 1
Exiled Posted April 12, 2018 Posted April 12, 2018 14 hours ago, Bill "Papa" Lee said: Early own in my Facebook setup account, have seen many links provided here at times, I decided to request a constant link to the Salt Lake Tribune. To me each story, be it politics, social issues, or stories of the Church, it always seems to be very unflattering of The Church. Even if the story is not overtly attacking the Church, the comments section is filled with posters who are almost always negative, in not downright hostel. In fact, I often see stories that no one who think it could have any link, but the posts in the comments section, make the link, anyway they can! Am I reading this correctly, is there truly such a basis? I think in contrast to the Deseret News, anything is anti-church. In any event, the Trib is owned by mormons (the Huntsmans) so it won't be anti. I think it wants to report what happens, without sounding like another church cheerleader. 1
Scott Lloyd Posted April 12, 2018 Posted April 12, 2018 15 minutes ago, Exiled said: I think in contrast to the Deseret News, anything is anti-church. How often in, say, the course of a typical week do you read the Deseret News?
rongo Posted April 12, 2018 Posted April 12, 2018 2 minutes ago, Scott Lloyd said: How often in, say, the course of a typical week do you read the Deseret News? When it's linked to online. I think that's pretty much true of all of us. Same with the Tribune. Although, thankfully the DN doesn't give 10 free articles and then expect people to pay to get past the paywall . . .
Scott Lloyd Posted April 12, 2018 Posted April 12, 2018 3 minutes ago, rongo said: When it's linked to online. I think that's pretty much true of all of us. Same with the Tribune. Although, thankfully the DN doesn't give 10 free articles and then expect people to pay to get past the paywall . . . My question was to Exiled. Are you responding in his behalf because you agree with him that "in contrast to the Deseret News, anything is anti-church"? That remark struck me as extreme -- which is why I put the question to him.
rongo Posted April 12, 2018 Posted April 12, 2018 1 minute ago, Scott Lloyd said: My question was to Exiled. Are you responding in his behalf because you agree with him that "in contrast to the Deseret News, anything is anti-church"? I definitely think that the Deseret News is on the "drink the Kool Aid" end of the spectrum, but I also think that the Tribune is actually on the "anti-Church" end as well. I think it's pretty obvious. And Peggy Fletcher Stack --- what a hack! I know little about it, from experience but it seems to me more and more lately that KUTV is the TV news version of the Tribune, while KSL is the TV news version of the Deseret News.
Scott Lloyd Posted April 12, 2018 Posted April 12, 2018 1 minute ago, rongo said: I definitely think that the Deseret News is on the "drink the Kool Aid" end of the spectrum, ... So you know this from reading some of its content only occasionally "when it's linked to online." Got it.
Guest Posted April 12, 2018 Posted April 12, 2018 11 hours ago, katherine the great said: The purpose of the Salt Lake Tribune originally was to give a different perspective from the extremely religious Deseret news and yes, it was decidedly anti-Mormon. I think the competition improved the Deseret news by 100%. The early Deseret News articles were absolutely horrible, rambling dissertations about religion, economics and politics which were really just weird rants--not newsy at all. Once true competition came around, Deseret news started to be more like a regular newspaper. Competition improves everything, unless it is competition in "vice industries". Thanks for pointing this out, not living out West, I did not know the difference between the two. I always viewed Deseret as just an arm of the Church, not to suggest this is a bad thing, it is not. I just never viewed it as an independent news source. Here the only real Newspaper, which carries the name of the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, are the same newspaper. Also, the largest News Program is WSB-2 News, all are a part of Cox Industries, all owned by a single family. So in this respect I can understand your point. 2
ttribe Posted April 12, 2018 Posted April 12, 2018 Scott - I get why you are in a bit of a defense mode about the DN, but do you really think DN provides unbiased reporting on the Church and its activities?
Guest Posted April 12, 2018 Posted April 12, 2018 11 hours ago, Marginal Gains said: Can you point to anything the Salt Lake Tribune has put out that, although very unflattering of The Church, has been inaccurate? I could probably scroll back through a few weeks of Facebook links. More than this the comments section (as I pointed out) did have much to do with my take of many articles. As it relates to those comments, it seems that, if the paper did a human interest story of a woman adopting puppies, there would be 100's of comments linking to, and attacking the Church, posted in the "comments section". I guess more than anything else, this is what caught my eye.
2PairsofCletes Posted April 12, 2018 Posted April 12, 2018 Unlike the Deseret News, the tribune doesn't often censor it's comment section.
Guest Posted April 12, 2018 Posted April 12, 2018 3 hours ago, rpn said: I think it has long been the Trib's job to publicize things the church didn't choose to publish. And even challenge insular Mormon thinking. But I don't see the Trib as either ant- Church or anti-mormon. (Critics though would like it that way, I suspect: they were pretty upset this week over the Robert Kirby column about if you lose your faith because of bad leader behavior, you didn't have faith in the right things anyway.) This article did create a lot of buzz!
Thinking Posted April 12, 2018 Posted April 12, 2018 As a high school sports fan, I wish the Salt Lake Tribune was up to the level of the Deseret News in reporting on high school sports. 1
Scott Lloyd Posted April 12, 2018 Posted April 12, 2018 8 minutes ago, ttribe said: Scott - I get why you are in a bit of a defense mode about the DN, but do you really think DN provides unbiased reporting on the Church and its activities? I think bias is very often a subjective determination. On controversial matters, I believe the Deseret News is more careful than another publication might typically be to ensure that the Church's view is reflected in quotes and overall reporting. Some might consider this bias, I suppose.
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