This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Deseret News CEO Clark Gilbert maintains the reason Utahns are fighting the lopsided JOA deal between the Deseret News and The Salt Lake Tribune is because we fear moving to digital technology ("Tribune, DNews bosses: Trib not at risk," July 2).
How ludicrous. How insulting to our intelligence. Yet what else do the forces determined to eviscerate the Tribune have? The LDS Church-owned DN and Tribune owners Digital First Media got nabbed — thanks to diligent Tribune reporting — in a sneaky bargain destined to kill the state's historically independent newspaper voice.
Gilbert says the Tribune's survival rests on the paper adopting a digital format. "But that is hard for people because it means they have to change."
Readers aren't opposed to technological change. It's brokering power in back rooms that angers us. Understandable, though, that Gilbert would take such a defensive posture. How else can he explain this mess but to level a charge that we are simply Luddites who won't grasp new technology?
Please. Utahns have rallied to support the Tribune in large part because the paper has taught us the value of investigative reporting and informed opinion. We learned about this effort from reading the Tribune. We are better-informed citizens, with a healthy sense of skepticism, as a result of relying on this paper for editorial balance and insight into our unique community. We know a lousy deal when we see one.
Holly Mullen
Salt Lake City