Local SLC media

Media Smack
1

I have been frustrated with the SLC media and its coverage of Utah Football over the past couple years. Ever since espn700 fired Kyle Gunther and picked up Spence Checketts in my opinion the Utah Jazz has taken center stage both in the off and on season. Add to that the station has a contractual obligation to cover RSL (again my opinion) I would rather listen to NPR when they discuss soccer. With 1280 being bought out by KSL you can see that they are being more byu centered already. Add to that the SLtrib now charges to read their articles whilst KSL and Deseret news are free. The problem is byu is splattered among the headlines and backgrounds of their front pages, and the bulk of their coverage is overwhelmingly always byu centered. My only solace is listening to the podcasts that 700 does. I love a conversation with Covey!

  1. Does anyone else feel this pain?
  2. Does anyone else pay for the Tribs coverage? And is it worth it?
2

It’s different now than 2012 when Mrs CCU and I moved to NC? I’m still under the impression that they gargle at the font of BYU, then the Jazz, with our Utes a distant 3rd, then an even more precipitous drop to everyone else.

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3

I am glad to hear that someone else misses Gunther. Spence is a basketball guy so I cannot listen to him. I cannot listen to radio as there are too many commercials. I like podcasts.

Locked on Utes podcast is great. It is daily for 30 minutes.
I also enjoy “it’s Utah’s world” podcast but it is only weekly for about an hour.
Hans and Scotty G podcast is good because you can just listen to the Utah stuff and skip the non-Utah stuff and in-show commercials.
The Blockcast is good too but infrequent.

I wish someone would pick Gunther back up, he was great entertainment and good football knowledge, but I know he wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea

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The local media has always been byu and Jazz centered. I expected it to even up with the Utes in the PAC but it never did. The Desperate News seems even more byu centered than ever before lately. It seems like they mostly ignore the Utes while never mentioning USU or WSU.

Sports radio seems to be 80% Jazz and I don’t follow the NBA so I stopped tuning in to sports radio.

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We subscribe to the Trib online, and I think it’s definitely worth it, but not for any reason to do with sports coverage. I just believe it’s important to have their views published. I shutter to think of the market being the sole domain of KSL and the DNews.

The online subscription isn’t that expensive, I think it’s $150/yr and you can also tie it to an NYT online subscription. The first two hours of my day is usually spent reading the Trib online via either the app or web, a couple of NYT articles that catch my eye, Heather Cox Richardson, and Isaac Saul.

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I’ve only listened to Gunther a few times and found him unbearable.

ESPN700 is fine. I change the channel or fast-forward through the podcasts when RSL or the Jazz come up. Checketts is obsessed with the Jazz.

The DesNews actually has interesting and smart coverage of the Utes, but they have chosen to be the worldwide news provider for Latter-day Saints and they cater to the BYU fan audience. When BYU is doing well the DNews sports section is pretty hard to take. Taysom Hill story, anyone?

I subscribe to the Trib solely to read about U. of Utah sports. Josh Newman is good. Now and then I read the rest of the paper although sometimes I think they try too hard to be the alternative voice. I wish there were a news source with an approach somewhere in between the Deseret News and the Tribune.

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Andy Larsen’s articles on COVID the last 20 months are without peer. If you’ve been skipping those you’ve done yourself a disservice.

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That’s one part of the main newspaper that I always read.

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Yes.

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10

The DNews is slowly moving all of the actual reporters.

Pat Reavy has been moved to KSL.com for instance.

I wonder how long before sports is moved as well.

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11

Hasn’t it been the case for awhile that the DNews was transitioning to being an LDS news aggregator instead a “real” newspaper?

I do have to admit that when they do cover the Utes the DNews does decently well. The generally stick to the who, what, when, where, and how, usually leaving why to the reader. DNews shows up once in awhile in my Utes news feed. I will say that if I see Monson or Kinahack writing anything I don’t even click the title. Yes I know they’re both at, or used to be both were at the Trib.

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12

The 700 priorities…

Utah Jazz
East Provo
RSL
Utah Utes

And it sucks they are our flagship station…

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13

Same

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14

I do. Josh Newman is great, but coverage of actual news in Utah is better than anything else out there.

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15

Just shut them out. They don’t do anything but emit verbal excrement. There are some good podcasts out there. Sports radio or tv is irrelevant. Life is good when you learn to be happy.

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I used to think there was a quality difference between the Trib and DNews but they’ve crossbred so much and with the pay wall, I can’t see what value i’d really get for paying now. Don’t love DN and don’t love KSL but I can get the basics there and AP often runs a story on us when something interesting happens…which suits me just fine. Beyond that…I come here and that fills in the rest.

We live in Utah…I figure BYU blah blah blah is just part of that price of admission. That being said, it could be worse…imagine how it feels trying to find good articles if you are an Aggie! I swear whole weeks go by without them getting any media love.

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I think there is a significant difference in quality and coverage between DN and Trib. If you are comparing the difference in news coverage, there is substantial difference. I don’t think the DN actually does any real news and the Trib actually does some investigative reporting.

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18

Sean Walkers Ksl.com coverage of BYU athletics is nauseating. It reminds me of the days when BYU fans would claim byu was the Lords University.

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19

You mean they aren’t? Who knew?

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20

The Tribune is a good local newspaper, and while somewhat left leaning, provides good coverage of everything that goes on in Utah. The Tribune acts as a nice counter balance to the LDS Church focused, and somewhat right leaning Deseret News. As such, and regardless of sports coverage, I subscribe to the Tribune, and read it daily.

Josh Newman, the SLTrib University of Utah sports beat writer, does a good job, is very knowledgeable at least as far as college football and basketball are concerned, and while somewhat dry in style, I always read his Ute coverage and always find it informative and enjoyable. I swore off Gordon Monson two decades ago (and have enjoyed the peace and quiet ever since) so literally NEVER click anything he publishes, regardless of the bait.

I rarely watch local television news, but do get some local/state news from KUER, our local NPR affiliate.

Independent of the sports coverage, I consider it critical to being a responsible citizen, to understand and be informed about local, city, county, and state news, so I read the Tribune daily, as well as the Deseret News less often, to provide some alternate viewpoints.

I also make occasional contributions to the Trib to keep the organization afloat. Local newspapers are going out of business all over the country. I do not want my only sources of information to be from television and radio news (the logical equivalent of the Police Blotter), the Deseret News, or social media.

I lost interest in the NBA and the Jazz a couple of decades ago, and so agree that Spence Checketts is not worth listening to. I do, however, find Bill Riley’s shows very informative and to contain a lot of Ute Football and Basketball news and information. In fact, he provides better overall insider information in this area than anyone in the market in my opinion. Unfortunately, his radio program is in the middle of the day and not very convenient for many. I have occasionally listened to his podcasts for years, and recommend them.

I used to listen to David James, and he knows his stuff. However, when he teamed up with Patrick Kinihan (the only bigger HACK in the market the Gordon Monson), I stopped listening to his show.

Hans Olsen, from 1280 The Zone provides some interesting reviews of Utah football games, which I occasionally stumble across on Youtube, but I don’t care for his radio programs.

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