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Who Owns Them?

The company that officially owns the paper is the Deseret Management Corporation. (The Deseret News, 2014). The paper produces works for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The newspaper is printed by the Newspaper Agency corporation alongside The Salt Lake Tribune. The newspapers are in a joint operating agreement and the Deseret News gets 70% of the exposure while the Tribune gets only 30% (Dabakis, 2014).

 

 

How Many Are Owned By The Same Company? Are They Owned By Independent Sources?

The Deseret Management Corporation owns five businesses other than the Deseret News: Beneficial Life Insurance Company, Bonneville International, Deseret Book, Deseret Digital Media, and Temple Square Hospitality. (DMC, 2014).

 

Annual Revenue?

There is no information about their annual revenue online, but a Pew Research study revealed that their annual revenue dropped 30% between 2008 and 2010 (Jurkowitz, 2013).  Like many other print papers in Utah, the Deseret News seems to be struggling with income.

 

Where Do They Get Their Revenue?

They get their revenue from advertisements, print subscriptions and online subscriptions.

 

What’s their reader/viewer share?

The Deseret News claims to have the highest readership in Utah, standing at an average Sunday circulation of 160,617. Their average daily circulation increased 15 percent between 2012 and 2013 (Beaujon, 2012).

 

Is there a particular story that “made” this news venue particular popular?

There is no particular story that “made” the Deseret News popular, but it is known for its religious sensitivity and it attracts LDS readers from outside of Utah. In fact, 65 percent of its online readers in 2013 were from outside of Utah (Beebe, 2013).

 

Was there a story that this news venue is particularly well known for scooping?

There is no particular story that the Deseret News is well-known for scooping.

 

How does the news site frame itself?

On its website, the newspaper says its mission is to “be a leading news brand for faith and family oriented audiences in Utah and around the world.” (The Deseret News, 2014).  It frames itself as a newspaper that is focussed on local and international news as they are concerned with religion and family.

 

How is it perceived?

Because it is owned by the Mormon church and is published in a predominantly Mormon state with the intention of appealing to families and religious values, it is generally perceived as a conservative newspaper.

 

GRADE: 67% D

Stories:

 

  1. President will bypass congress and order his own federal action

  2. Utah members of congress slam Obama’s refusal to work with legislators

  3. Utah’s use of student data ranks in top 10

  4. For his brothers

  5. Leaders leave Vatican with renewed hopes

  6. Are Millennials savers? Studies say yes and no

  7. Vets’ moms to congress: Boost suicide prevention

Day 1: November 20, 2014

GRADE: 63.16% D

Stories:

 

  1. Utah family hopes president’s reforms can keep them whole

  2. Utah business leaders say congress must step up and solve immigration problems

  3. Swallow faces 12th felony count for boat trip

  4. 40 percent of American weddings involve remarriage

  5. The science of nervous laughter/happy tears

  6. Roofs Collapse as snow clobbers Buffalo

Day 2: November 21, 2014

GRADE: 68.75% D

Stories:

 

  1. Applicants for new rules will need legal help, patience

  2. Executive action brings ‘temporary relief’ for Utahns

  3. Stymied Republicans seek immigration response

  4. Researcher: Poorest in many countries sent their kids to private schools

  5. Video game shows war’s other side

  6. Report: schools, parents appeased Newtown shooter

Day 3: November 22, 2014

The Deseret News scored consistent Ds on its daily top stories. Out of the six to seven stories graded each day, only one or two were generally peripheral. However, some of these stories, such as the LDS apostle’s visit to the Vatican, could have been considered core in Utah because such a large number of Utahns are part of the LDS faith. Because it wasn’t included on McManus’s rubric, however, we chose not to include it as a core story. Other peripheral stories may have had some significance to Utahns as well, but we chose to stick to the rubric

 

 

During the time period I graded the Deseret News, the paper decided to discuss President Obama’s immigration executive action. This makes sense because the paper holds LDS values and would therefore discuss events that affect families. Most of the stories on this topic were well-written.

 

 

There seemed to be about two or three diverse, well-sourced, high-impact, fair stories each day. These were generally put on the upper fold of the paper. Most of the other stories weren’t as well done, and they were put on the bottom fold or the second page. I think it’s commendable that the Deseret News tried to attract its readers by displaying its core stories first rather than its peripheral stories.

 

 

The Deseret News didn’t consistently score low on anything throughout the three days, but one thing they struggled with a little bit was the fairness of their stories. This may have happened because it’s hard sometimes to find the controversy in some stories and to include that controversy when a story is short. The paper’s shorter stories generally had a harder time being fair and getting high scores in general.

 

 

All in all, the Deseret News didn’t do as terribly as many of the other digital media analyzed in this project. The Deseret News is generally a well-respected newspaper in Utah and it seems to work hard to try to share well thought-out news.

 

Analysis

(Deseret News, 2014)

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