Media Bullseye on West High

[Lazy Media] A story about the rise in cheating, shoplifting, plagiarism and other ethical and criminal misdeeds among high school students (64 percent reported cheating on a school test in the past year; 36 percent acknowledged using the Internet to plagiarize someone else's work) got the Utah mainstream media (MSM) scrambling for that all-important "local angle."

KSL radio reporter Mary Richards got herself straight over to Salt Lake City's West High School--a whole two blocks from the broadcast studio, and interviewed a freshman who was shocked by the news. OK, fine.

Call me an oversensitive mom. Both of my children are products of West High. The oldest graduated in 2006; the youngest will finish in the spring. As sure as you can count on tulips popping up every April, every time the Salt Lake City MSM needs a local prop for some horrendous national teen-trend piece, a reporter trots on over to West to illustrate the issue. Why? It's two blocks from KSL Broadcast House. It's 3/4 of a mile from KUTV's studio. It's three blocks from The Salt Lake Tribune and about 1/2 mile from the Deseret News.

Meanwhile, the image of West as some lab for social miscreants* builds. In the cheating and shoplifting story, the freshman wasn't targeted as a criminal. She was, though, associated with the national story through her comments. I'm pretty sure West High comes across in this city/state as THE ONLY place for roving thugs, gangs and troubled teens--largely because downtown reporters are too lazy to drive more than a mile to get their angle.

BTW, East High School is only three miles from KSL's studio. Highland High is a whole five miles away. And Skyline High? Downtown-based reporters would have to hop on the freeway to get there, but it's only a 15-minute ride. (Holly Mullen)

*Those social miscreants in the above photo are not from West High, but if you follow the local news they could be.

The DesNews Ax Comes Down

[Utah Media] No one in Utah media circles ever expected this day would come: Deseret News editor (and former D.C. lobbyist) Joe Cannon announced yesterday 35 editorial positions will be cut from the paper by mid-July.

The daily paper, like most across the country, has struggled with declining circulation for years. The main reasons for the endless slump are starting to sound like a mantra--Online competition, combined with aging (and frankly, dying) readers.

But the LDS Church-owned DN has never in its history engaged in mass layoffs. Most media observers have figured the healthy subsidy from the church would always keep the paper chugging along. Also, along with broadcasting giant KSL, the DN has been a key media property/propaganda tool for the church in reaching and influencing its members.

Cannon signals this isn't any kind of death knell, and laid out the newspaper's goals for hopefully, long-term survival: "We will become more local, more online, and more Mormon."

Huh? More Mormon? How is that possible? But whatever.

Meantime, I called several editorial staff members at the DN today for their reaction. All declined to talk much, and asked I not use their names. It's a small journalism community, and I know many DN reporters, photographers and artists. I worked with many of them more than 25 years ago. These were tough conversations.

"We've known something like this was coming for a while now," said one. "It's still pretty depressing."

Three employees told me many older, veteran staffers will probably take the buyout being offered. Said another: "It's gone downhill here since Joe Cannon came on."

On a related note, it's fascinating to read in The Salt Lake Tribune's account that editor Nancy Conway sees no layoffs in the future for her 170 editorial employees. It's sort of an argument of semantics, actually. Publisher Dean Singleton, via Conway, has been melding jobs together to save personnel costs and hiring more part-timers (no obligation to provide benefits) for at least the past two years. Former theater critic Ellen Fagg is now a features editor who doubles as a drama critic. Film critic Sean Means continues to reviews movies, but recently took over duties of former "Culture Vulture" and general arts writer Brandon Griggs. Essentially, it means Means is working two jobs and getting paid for one. (Griggs left the Trib last month for an online job at CNN in Atlanta.)

Conway has been telling her people for a long time now they won't have to "work harder, just smarter. And differently."

And leaner, always leaner. (Holly Mullen)

Utah Adopts Reporters' Shield Rule

[Media] Put this post in the category of completely self-serving news.

Well, not exactly. A shield rule that allows Utah reporters to protect their sources' identity will help news gathering for all of us--here at City Weekly and every other print, broadcast and online operation. And that, in turn, will help everyone who reads a paper, watches TV news, reads a blog. Most everyone.

Sometimes Utah's institutions really do the right thing by the public. The following e-mail came yesterday, signed by two Salt Lake City media lawyers who have been advocating for the shield rule--Jeff Hunt and Michael O'Brien.

"Dear Media Coalition Members:

Good news! The Utah Supreme Court yesterday adopted a reporter's shield rule for Utah. Acting with remarkable speed, the Court adopted Rule 509 of the Utah Rules of Evidence just one day after the public comment period on the Rule closed. According to an email I received last night from the Court's legal counsel, Rick Schwermer, and confirmed by a phone call this morning, the Court met yesterday and adopted the rule, effective immediately. That means news reporters in Utah are covered by the new privilege as of now. Schwermer said the Court would issue a written order later formalizing its adoption of the Rule.

... The Rule creates a near-absolute privilege for confidential sources. The only exception: when disclosure is necessary to "prevent substantial injury or death." ... This language is even more protective of confidential sources than existing case law and would compel disclosure of confidential sources only in the most extreme circumstances.

The rule also protects unpublished non-confidential newsgathering material, e.g., outtakes, notes, photographs, etc., subject to the balancing test that the Utah federal and state courts have been using for the past twenty years.

Through this process, Mike and I have become intimately familiar with the shield laws of the other 47 states and the District of Columbia. In our judgment, the Utah rule provides some of the strongest protections to news reporters of any shield law in the nation.

The Supreme Court's adoption of the rule culminates a nearly three-year-long campaign to enact a reporter's shield law in Utah. As you know, there have been many ups and downs along the way. The end result is very gratifying. Our thanks go to all of you who submitted public comments of the Rule, helped us educate the Advisory Committee and Supreme Court, consulted with us on strategy, and took the battle to the public via op-ed pieces, radio and television interviews, and editorials. This could not have happened without your support."

Oh. That's journalism god Hunter S. Thompson in the photo, c. 1971.

(Holly Mullen)