Breaking: Huntsman Family Buying The Salt Lake Tribune

Thank you Mr Huntsman for keeping the Trib around for everyone!

Fantastic news from the Salt Laker Trib's Tony Semarad this morning. Here's the lede, Peeps:

The Salt Lake Tribune is being purchased by the Huntsman family, the newspaper's top editor, Terry Orme, said Wednesday.
Digital First Media executives, who manage Utah's largest daily for hedge fund Alden Global, confirmed they have entered into a purchase agreement with Paul Huntsman, son of Utah industrialist-philanthropist Jon Huntsman Sr.
The sale price has not been disclosed.
In a statement released on news wires, Paul Huntsman said the family was "honored to be stewards" of Utah's largest newspaper.
"It is important that The Salt Lake Tribune continues in its indispensable role for our community and to be locally owned," Huntsman said. "We hope to ensure The Tribune's independent voice for future generations and are thrilled to own a business of this quality and stature."

Here's the full story folks:

• Huntsman family buying The Salt Lake Tribune

Thank you Mr Huntsman for keeping the Trib around for everyone!

Jim Dabakis: Salt Lake Tribune, Other Digital First Media Newspapers, Officially On The Market

How about the citizens of Utah getting together to buy the Tribune at its current bargain basement value?

Via State Senator Jim Dabakis:

"Want to buy Pat Bagley and the Whole Dang Trib," Senator Dabakis asks? Read up, peeps, According to the Denver Post story linked below, the Trib has been recently put on the "auction block," so to speak:

Apparently, the Tribune is for sale. It WOULD have been an attractive money maker without all the shenanigans over the last year. Now, potential buyers tell me the Tribune is worth very, very little. Much of the value has been sucked out Utah's proud independant voice! But, there is a way to save an independent Trib and assure two papers in Utah for a long, long time.
The historic revenue split between the Tribune and the Deseret News was 70%-30% (based on circulation and revenues). But that has changed. Dramatically. With Clark Gilbert's Deseret News' payoff to the NY Hedge Fund that owns the Trib, it leaves the Trib as a very junior partner with an unsustainable financial split of just 30%.
Plus, instead of the long standing 50-50 split of control of the joint operating company, with the new agreement, the smaller Deseret News gains control. Having lost 50% of its profit to the D News, and lost say over distribution, promotion and printing of the papers, serious potential buyers have told me that only a shill would buy the Tribune now, UNLESS the DOJ or the Courts step in. The ugly new agreement that gave the Hedge Fund millions from the Deseret News must be reversed.
Was the fact that the Trib was stripped of its sale value before it was put on sale to possible independent buyers (like the McCarthey Family for instance) just a coincidence? 

Here is a link to the Denver Post story:

• Denver Post, other Digital First Media newspapers, officially on the market

Everything Digital First Media has touched has been run into the ground, but the fatcat ownership of the Alden Capital Hedge Fund still manage to always collect fat paychecks, partially at the Trib readership's expense.

How about the citizens of Utah getting together to buy the Tribune at its current bargain basement value and create a trust that would create autonomy in the newsroom and guarantee that we have professional journalism in this state now and for decades to come?

As Mr. Dabakis notes, the new anti-trust-violative DNews-Trib joint operating agreement would possibly have to be somehow voided, of course., hopefully by mutual agreement, if the price is right, of course..

Just a thought.

Salt Lake Tribune: Judge Won’t Dismiss Lawsuit Against Tribune-Deseret News Deal

Although we'd earlier predicted that this lawsuit "would be 'dumped' before the end of the month," we couldn't be more delighted to have been wrong about this

There's great news for Salt Lake Tribune readers this morning, with this encouraging Trib story, reporting that the plainiffs in the Federal court lawsuit seeking "to dismantle changes to a 62-year-old business partnership between The Tribune and the LDS Church-owned Deseret News" have survived their first legal hurdle, Here's Tony Semerad's tantalizing lede:

A federal lawsuit seeking to undo recent business dealings between Utah’s two largest newspapers will continue after a judge Monday rejected attempts to have it thrown out.
After nearly two hours of arguments from both sides, U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups refused to dismiss the suit brought by a grass-roots group called Citizens for Two Voices.

And here's the full story, folks:

• Judge won’t dismiss lawsuit against Tribune-Deseret News deal

Although we'd earlier predicted that this lawsuit "would be 'dumped' before the end of the month," we couldn't be more delighted to have been proven wrong about this.

As this case now progresses toward a resolution "on the merits"  we'll of course keep you all posted as to significant case developments.

Comments, anyone?

Salt Lake Tribune: Audit Blasts UTA, Says It Gave Millions in Sweetheart Deals - Updated

Another reason we need this newspaper in our lives. Every day

Via Holly Mullen:

When clean air efforts and mass transit become a social class issue: Balancing UTA big salaries and profits (and sneakily) on the backs of the poor and working class--who have had bus routes continually cut and fares steadily raised.

• Audit blasts UTA, says it gave millions in sweetheart deals

Thanks to Lee Davidson, and The Salt Lake Tribune. Another reason we need this newspaper in our lives. Every day.

Update 8/28/14 7:10 a.m.:  Utah official are reeling from yesterday's state audit reporting:

• UTA attacked, defended after tough audit
• UTA chairman says there is 'much work to do' in wake of blistering legislative audit

The Trib reports that Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross is letting UTA management have it with both barrels:

[Weiler] tweeted online Wednesday, "I have two questions about the UTA audit: Who’s getting fired and who’s going to jail?"
He said in an interview that was not just a light-hearted tweet. "After all is said and done, we still have $1.7 million in taxpayer funds" not repaid from the questionable $10 million deal, and continued controversy over high pay and bonuses. "I don’t know how you turn a blind eye to that."

"You know, I still can't wrap my head around the fact that nobody ... and I mean NOBODY ... at UTA understands or comprehends the term Conflict of Interest," remarks one Trib reader.

UTA watchdog Chris Stout, of the Utah Transit Riders Union (UTRU) minces no words, and issues a call for strong citizen action:

One of the issues I raised at the meeting -- which was overlooked because of the sensational $10 million paid for a garage never built, $2.9 billion in unfunded maintenance costs, the debt to build the rail system and the decimation of the bus system in order to fund the rail service was the fact that customer satisfaction is essentially non-existent. The performance audit recommended that UTA begin "routine and consistent" customer satisfaction surveys that are taken to the highest level of UTA (the Board of Trustees). Myself or other members of UTRU will be attending these board meetings to personally deliver messages of customer satisfaction -- or in most cases, customer dissatisfaction. I encourage you to visit our website to get on our email list and/or visit and like our Facebook page.  Our next membership meeting will be in September and all are encouraged to attend.

Update 8/29/14 9:00 a.m.:  There's more politica blowback concerning this story, as Governor Herbert thinks UTA has already fixed most of the problems highlighted by a legislative audit raising questions about the organization's business practices; but Senator Todd Weiler will ask the State Attorney General's office to initiate a criminal investigation.

• Gov. Gary Herbert says UTA has fixed most problems in audit
• State senator seeks criminal investigation in wake of audit of UTA (Video)

“I’m representing my constituents, and they’re angry and they want heads to roll,” Weiler said.

Don't let the cat get your tongues, O Gentle WCF Readers.

Kearns-Tribune, Deseret News Ask Judge to Toss Antitrust Lawsuit

Our take?  This patently frivolous lawsuit will be "dumped" before the end of the month

Following up on our earlier story on this topic, we learn this morning from The Standard-Examiner, the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News that "[t]he Deseret News’ top managers and The Salt Lake Tribune’s corporate owners are asking a federal judge to reject claims that a new business arrangement between Utah’s two largest newspapers violates the law and should be undone. U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups has scheduled a July 21 hearing on the lawsuit, filed last month by a nonprofit group called Citizens for Two Voices (also known as the Utah Newspaper Project)":

• Newspapers ask to dismiss lawsuit over agreement
• Deseret News, Tribune bosses urge judge to toss lawsuit
• Kearns-Tribune, Deseret News ask judge to toss antitrust lawsuit

The appellant newspaper owners "argue that the Utah Newspaper Project lacks proper legal standing to pursue the case, primarily because its members haven’t shown how they are injured by the JOA changes, beyond "hypothetical" and "conjectural" allegations of how they or others in Utah might suffer from losing The Tribune’s editorial voice if the paper shut down," according the the above-linked Trib story, among other things.

"Claims that the new JOA is ultimately intended to put The Tribune out of business are baseless, [appellants] have [affimatively] contended, saying there are no plans to shut down the paper — 'not this week, this month, this year, or ever'"

Our take? This patently frivolous (but well-meaning) lawsuit will be "dumped" before the end of the month.

Comments, anyone?

Breaking: Suit Seeks to Block Utah Newspaper Deal, Argues It Dooms The Tribune

Pop up some Orville Redenbachers and pull up your La-Z-Boys, folks

Fascinating development in the Deseret News/Salt Lake Tribune brouhaha, as the Trib's Tony Semerad reports that a local entity identifed as Citizens for Two Voices, composed of  "[e]x-Trib employees, [a] key lawmaker and top advertiser" has filed a lawsuit in Federal Court seeking injunctive and declaratory relief to "immediately halt financial dealings between the paper and its main rival, the LDS Church-owned Deseret News":

Read up, folks:

• Suit seeks to block Utah newspaper deal, argues it dooms The Tribune

Here's the online complaint, for those legal eagles who'd like to read up:

• Lawsuit over control of the Salt Lake Tribune

Pop up some Orville Redenbachers and  pull up your La-Z-Boys, O Gentle
Ones. This one's going to be interesting to watch.

Disappearing Ink: Former Journalists Say The Decline Of The Salt Lake Tribune Stems From A Conspiracy Between The Paper's Corporate Owner And The LDS Church

Imagine, if you will,  a world where the Deseret News winds up as Northern Utah's only remaining major newspaper, peeps 

In any situation where there’s a quasi theocracy ... any state where it’s politically or religiously dominated, an independent voice or a countervoice for that matter, is critical to the survival of diverse thinking.

Former Tribune Editor Jay Shelledy
Disappearing Ink: Former Journalists Say The Decline Of The Salt Lake Tribune Stems From A Conspiracy Between The Paper's Corporate Owner And The LDS Church
May 14, 2014

My sense is that the entire industry has tried to lay print to rest before it’s ready to die, and I see that as a mistake. I think the revenue most places still comes from print—most of the revenue—and that’s why the new split hurts the Tribune so much.

Former Tribune Editor Nancy Conway
Disappearing Ink: Former Journalists Say The Decline Of The Salt Lake Tribune Stems From A Conspiracy Between The Paper's Corporate Owner And The LDS Church
May 14, 2014

Much of what the Tribune does, involves going to court with the government over open-records requests—an often thankless and costly process undertaken so that Utahns know the business being conducted on their behalf. [The Tribune has] always been a very strong, strong investigative watchdog newspaper. I’d hate to see it go. It would be a bad thing.

Joel Campbell, professor of journalism, BYU
Disappearing Ink: Former Journalists Say The Decline Of The Salt Lake Tribune Stems From A Conspiracy Between The Paper's Corporate Owner And The LDS Church
May 14, 2014

The Trib Receives a
D-News "Warm Embrace"

Humdinger of a journalistic tour de force from Salt Lake City Weekly this morning, for those WCF readers who'd like to fully bone up on the current plight of Salt Lake City's top-selling newspaper, the Salt Lake Tribune.  A giant Weber County Forum Tip O' the Hat to SLWeekly reporter Colby Frazier, for one of the most robust and well-researched journalistic pieces which we've featured on these WCF pages in years. Read up, folks:

• Disappearing Ink: Former Journalists Say The Decline Of The Salt Lake Tribune Stems From A Conspiracy Between The Paper's Corporate Owner And The LDS Church

Within this morning's story, Mr. Frazier has embedded this handy link, which opens this important online petition:

• Save the Tribune

We urge all WCF readers to chime in on this right now. Can't hurt; might help.

Imagine, if you will,  a world where the Deseret News winds up as Northern Utah's only remaining major newspaper, peeps.  If that distressing prospect won't motivate you to take immediate political action, we suppose nothing will.  For a little extra inspiration however, please view the image embedded above, which lays it all out in graphic form, wethinks.

Columbia Journalism Review: A Newspaper Deal Threatens Utah's Main Non-Mormon-Owned Daily, Critics Say

Why not sign the petition? Can't hurt... might help

Disturbing story for fans of the Salt Lake Tribune.  Utahns who are interested in a balanced Utah editorial narrative should read the lede and weep, O Gentle Weber County Forum Readers:

A deal reached last fall between Salt Lake City's two main newspapers is unraveling into an angry controversy as the Justice Department looks into allegations that the Salt Lake Tribune, in return for a lump-sum cash payment, is quietly ceding the market to the Mormon Church-owned Deseret News.
The deal, an amendment struck last fall to a longstanding Joint Operating Agreement, would give the News 70 percent of the print revenues generated by the two papers, in return for the payment, the amount of which is undisclosed. The onetime payment, critics claim, would benefit the New York parent, Digital First Media, owned by the hedge fund Alden Global Capital, while choking off revenue needed to sustain the Tribune's newsroom.
"The hedge fund guys get what they want, which is a big pile of cash," says Jim Dabakis, a Utah state senator who this week started an online petition asking the Justice Department to reverse the deal. "And the Deseret News gets what it wants, its generations-long dream [fulfilled] to extinguish the other voice in the community. And they get a monopoly from now on."

Read the full Columbia Journalism Review expose' here, folks, and continue with your weeping:

• A newspaper deal threatens Utah's main non-Mormon-owned daily, critics say

And here's an interesting wrinkle to this story, provided by a knowledgeable and trusted WCF source, who works for the Salt Lake Tribune, and technically refutes the claim that "this deal [was] reached last fall between Salt Lake City's two main newspapers":

The thing to know is that no one who actually works at the Salt Lake Tribune was consulted or had anything to do with this agreement. Our corporate hedge fund owners got a pile of cash to service their Wall Street debt and the Deseret News, the weaker paper in terms of generating subscriptions and ad revenue, was handed the means to strangle the competition. 

Definitely no surprizes here.  Obviously this was a deal soley cut between Deseret News ownership (who have exactly the same amount of money as God hisself)  and the greed-head hedge fund managers who own the 'venerable" Salt Lake  Tribune, "lock, stock and barrel."
 
Interested in rolling up your sleeves and engaging in some useful and productive political action on an otherwise quite Utah Sunday? Sign the online petition, O Gentle Readers:

• STOP THE IMPENDING DEATH OF THE S.L.TRIBUNE!

Why not?  Can't hurt... might help.