This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 1992, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
EX-EMPLOYERS DIFFER ON WHY LDS REPORTER LOST HIS JOBS
Journalist Lynn Packer believes he lost jobs at LDS Church-owned KSL Television and Brigham Young University because of his reporting on sensitive LDS stories, but the former employers recall his departures differently.
As an active Mormon and a reporter for KSL-TV, Mr. Packer said he aggressively covered church association with convicted murderer Mark Hofmann. While teaching at BYU during the late 1980s, Mr. Packer wrote stories describing Mormon general authority Paul H. Dunn's embellished yarns about his baseball career and war experiences.
Bruce Lindsay, managing editor/anchor at KSL-TV News, said personnel records indicate Mr. Packer was laid off from his part-time reporting position in January 1987 as part of a general staff reduction because of budget cuts.
``There is nothing to suggest his termination was related to the Mark Hofmann episode. I was a fellow employee at the time, not then in management, and it was my impression that Lynn was riffed over budget cuts,'' Mr. Lindsay said.
Mr. Packer lost his adjunct faculty position at BYU because he lacked graduate degrees and was not interested in pursuing additional education, said university spokesman Brent Harker.
He discussed the effect that coverage has had on his career Wednesday night at the Sunstone Symposium in Salt Lake City.