Media Watch
Mormon Portal: Nice Niche For Deseret Morning News
Newspapers in Utah and around the world are working hard to improve their on-line editions to attract more readers and thus more advertising. Most newspaper executives, especially at bigger papers, realize that their print editions are not going to expand much. The great potential, the real future, is with on-line editions.
Both of Utah's two Salt Lake dailies are greatly improving their web editions, fighting for on-line readers. They now publish to a 24-hour news cycle, posting stories on-line as they happen. They've added on-line features that don't exist in the print editions.
The challenge for newspaper web operations is that competition is fierce. The barriers to entry to start a print publication are formidable. Who can afford the newsprint, presses, distribution systems, etc.? But on-line, barriers to entry barely exist. Everyone can be a publisher. Readers have millions of choices for on-line news and information.
Thus, newspapers, like other web operations, have to look for niches where they can dominate. One obvious niche for the Deseret Morning News is to become the news, information and services center for members of the LDS Church. With 13 million Mormons worldwide, clearly there is a terrific opportunity for the Morning News to become the church's news, information and resources portal.
A little history: Way back nearly 35 years ago when I was a college student studying journalism, I was invited to serve an internship with famous investigative journalist/muckraker Jack Anderson in Washington, D.C. Anderson was a prominent Mormon, and the purpose of my internship was to assist him in writing a weekly column to be published in a new weekly international edition of the Deseret News, targeted at Mormons living all over the world.
This international edition was the brainchild of then-Deseret News Editor William Smart, patterned somewhat after the Christian Science Monitor, a successful church-sponsored international newspaper. Smart felt that with worldwide LDS Church membership growing rapidly, the new international edition could become a source of news and information for members everywhere, with news stories, columns and features formulated for a Mormon audience, including contributions from prominent Mormons, like Jack Anderson, living outside of Utah.
It was a great concept, but because of budget and other constraints the international edition never was launched. Today, however, the Internet provides the perfect channel for the Morning News to produce an international edition targeted at Mormons worldwide, making the newspaper the news and information portal for church members. It's a big audience and a terrific niche for a newspaper trying to attract on-line readers.
With its already existing Church News, the new Mormon Times, and LDS Newsline, the Morning News appears poised to pull these products together into a Mormon-oriented web portal. But much work remains to be done to consolidate those elements that are scattered around the current web site. The full content of the Church News isn't even available on-line to many church members who don't subscribe. To create an effective portal, editors must also get over their narrow newspaper perspective and provide not just news and information, but also services and resources.
Partnering with KSL TV/Radio would also make great good sense. Combining the Morning News' in-depth reporting capabilities with the audio and video of KSL TV/Radio would create a powerhouse of an on-line operation unmatched in Utah and around the West.
Two Ambassadors Visit Utah
Linda Jewell, U.S. Ambassador to Ecuador, and Ambassador Charles S. Shapiro, Senior Coordinator, Western Hemisphere FTA Task Force, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, U.S. Department of State, will visit Salt Lake City on Wednesday. The ambassadors will speak with local officials, local media, and will give a presentation at the Salt Lake Chamber (Eccles Board Room, 9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.). Read more about this event and other news from World Trade Center Utah in this week's issue of Global Utah.
Taxpayers Association Newsletter
The Utah Taxpayers Association has posted its March newsletter. This month's edition looks at the limited prospects for tax cuts in 2008 and features a column by Royce Van Tassell in which he critiques a recent Utahns for Public Schools report on education spending.
Today in Political History
Mar. 4, 1791: Vermont is admitted as the 14th U.S. state.
Mar. 4, 1801: Thomas Jefferson becomes president of the U.S. (Source: Perspicuity)
Mar. 4, 1933: Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt outlines his "New Deal" in his inauguration speech. (Source: NBC5) The start of Roosevelt's first administration also brings with it the first woman to serve in the Cabinet: Labor Secretary Frances Perkins. (New York Times)
Wise Words
"Without liberty, law loses its nature and its name, and becomes oppression. Without law, liberty also loses its nature and its name, and becomes licentiousness."
-James Wilson (Patriot Post)
Communications Tip
Listen To What Is Not Said
There is a real distinction between merely hearing the words and really listening for the message. When you listen effectively you understand what the person is thinking and/or feeling from the other person's own perspective. It is as if you were standing in the other person's shoes, seeing through his/her eyes and listening through the person's ears. Your own viewpoint may be different and you may not necessarily agree with the person, but as you listen, you understand from the other's perspective. To listen effectively, you must be actively involved in the communication process, and not just listening passively. (Source: 1000venturesu)
National Politics
Best Stories From . . .
-- New York Daily News: Columnist Michael Goodwin: "You hear it everywhere: Tuesday is Hillary Clinton's last stand. If she can't win Ohio and Texas, she's history. True, mostly. But it's not the whole story. The rest goes like this: This is Barack Obama's third chance to knock her out. If he can't close the deal this time, maybe he can't close the deal, period."
-- Wall Street Journal: "Like black neighborhoods across America, the Oak Cliff area here [in Dallas] has gone Latino, soul-food restaurants having given way to Salvadoran pupuserías. But in contrast to some U.S. cities ... blacks and Latinos here and across Texas are getting along -- and that may benefit [Obama] in Tuesday's Democratic primary."
-- NBC News: Columnist Chuck Todd: "There are at least two people hoping [Clinton] does well on Junior Super Tuesday: Clinton, of course, and Sen. John McCain. ... McCain's general election campaign is still in its infancy. It would not be a stretch to describe the campaign staff structure as skeletal. ... [T]he last thing he needs is a presumptive Democratic opponent on March 5."
-- Politico: "[N]othing seems to alarm Republicans more than the incessant sound of ringing cash registers coming from the other party. The jaw-dropping fundraising by Democrats ... is leading Republican officials both in and out of McCain's campaign to think that they'll never be able to match the war chests of their likely rivals."
Blog Watch
-- At Out of Context, Dan Harrie reports: "So who's the most prolific senator in the 2008 Legislature? If you guessed Sen. Lyle Hillyard, who usually carries more bills than a certain Micron lobbyist packs Jazz tickets, you would be wrong. The lord of legislation this year is Sen. Wayne Niederhauser -- with 21 bills under his sponsorship -- and this is just his second session. Imagine what he'll do when he really settles in. Just a question here, but don't conservatives usually espouse fewer laws? Anyway, Hillyard, who has put more time in at lawmaking than anyone by Mike Dmitrich, is carrying 19 bills this year to make the No. 2 spot. He's followed by Sens. Dennis Stowell (17) and Greg Bell (also 17), Jon Greiner and Curt Bramble (both 16). Then there's Margaret Dayton, Chris Buttars, Mark Madsen and Pete Knudson, all with 14. And the lawmaker with the least amount of bills? Newcomer Sen. Karen Mayne who just stepped into the role of lawmaker following her husband, Ed's, recent passing. That low number was tied by Sen. Ross Romero, who moved over from the House in 2006. Other senators sponsoring few bills are Fred Fife (4), President John Valentine (6) and Minority Leader Mike Dmitrich (7)." (For more on the Legislature, see The Senate Site, The Democratic Caucus, The Utah Amicus, Salt Lake Crawler, KVNU's For The People, and Utah State Democratic Party.)
Lighter Side
More Fun Pokes at Politicians
"An election is coming. Universal peace is declared and the foxes have a sincere interest in prolonging the lives of the poultry." -T.S. Eliot
"When they call the roll in the Senate, the senators do not know whether to answer 'present' or 'guilty'." -Theodore Roosevelt (Patriot Post)
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