Deseret News to restructure, coordinate operations

Posted by Savita Sauvin on August 31, 2010 at 3:29 PM

Considering the major shift of readers from traditional news sources to digital media, changes were announced today at Utah's longest publishing daily, Deseret News. The U.S. newspaper will reduce its newsroom staff numbers by nearly half and introduce new strategic initiatives to serve massive audiences globally, TheSaltLakeTribune.com reported today.

Like many other newspapers, Utah's second largest daily faced a difficult choice - to either reduce staff and reinvent itself or to stop publishing. The newspaper chose the former; and despite declining ad revenues, the newspaper's readership showed an increase of 20 percent in 2009, the highest growth rate experienced by any newspaper in the country, according to a blog post by the newspaper's editorial page editor, Jay Evensen.

As part of its new strategic growth initiatives, the newspaper plans to expand its news coverage by coordinating operations with sister company KSL Television and Radio, and thereby providing readers with in-depth coverage and quality news on topics of varied interests on relevant issues, according to the press release posted on PRNewsWire.com. The newspaper also plans to launch a new platform called "Deseret Connect," wherein experts will provide news and information regularly. The plan also includes setting up an editorial advisory board comprised of thought leaders spread across the United States to provide readers with in-depth opinion and insights.

In its move to consolidate, the newspaper announced job cuts that will affect 43 percent of its workforce, including 57 full-time and 28 part-time employees, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. The editor, Joe Cannon, and publisher, Jim Wall, have also chosen to leave their positions for advisory roles. The remaining newsroom staff will be moved to Triad Center, wherein KSL reporters are housed to collaborate newsroom operations and create the largest newsroom in the region.

Through the move, the newspaper will continue to publish seven days a week with contributions from readers, columnists, community figures and reporters.

"Our readers have been clear that they want more than information," Deseret News CEO and President, Clark Gilbert, stated in the press release. "They crave and deserve insight, context and thought leadership relevant to the events and issues of the day from sources they trust. The values we champion are time-honored concepts that belong to people of goodwill around the world. Our new direction positions us to deliver on the expectations of our current and future readers."

The newspaper recently reported that three new people are being added to its leadership team to enhance and accelerate its growth on digital platforms. They are Christopher Lee, Matthew Sanders and Dave Bascom, who will help develop a media content model and contribute to the expansion of the Deseret News brand.

The news site attracts approximately two million unique visitors per month and nearly 24 million page views, according to the newspaper's online analytics.