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| 107 4 Reader Responses to the Yearning for Zion Ranch Raid and Its Aftermath on the Websites of the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News Michael William Hamilton While national media provide broad-based and politically astute perspectives for readers and audiences, they sometimes fail to fully understand local or regional cultural nuances that affect a story. The 2008 Texas state raid on the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) is a case in point. There is a long-standing and deep-seated ambivalence among residents of Utah about the issue of polygamy and the fundamentalist Mormons who continue to practice “the Principle.” One can find this ambivalence embedded in the regional media coverage of, and reader responses to, the FLDS raid. In the following pages reader reaction to the 2008 Texas state raid on the FLDS at the Yearning for Zion (YFZ) Ranch is examined in two key Utah newspapers, the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret Morning News. These newspapers are highly sensitive to polygamy issues arising from the historical doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints (LDS) and its founder, Joseph Smith, for reasons discussed below. The intent of the analysis of reader responses to regional news coverage is to explore how the LDS and Utahans interpret and frame polygamy in light of their own history, sacred experience, and collective identity, and to examine the implications of these. The Tribune and the News have both covered the FLDS community (in Arizona and Texas) and the recent YFZ raid with alacrity. There are distinct differences in approach, however, that are related to the papers’ unique histories . The Salt Lake Tribune is an independently owned newspaper founded by ex-Mormons that strives to achieve a balance in its reporting about LDS. The Tribune has always endeavored to remain independent of LDS control and influence, making news coverage of polygamy a particularly challeng- 108 | Michael William Hamilton ing charge. Tribune reporter Brooke Adams is assigned full-time to the polygamy beat, writing stories and blogging. The paper’s Web page features a “Polygamy” tab (http://sltrib.com/polygamy) under Utah News, alongside Politics, Education, Columns, and Photos. Ms. Adams is the only American newspaper journalist exclusively covering polygamy, and her articles and the associated archives are a comprehensive and up-to-date source of news and analysis on the subject. The Deseret News, on the other hand, is owned by LDS and has a high spiritual and cultural stake in the coverage of the polygamy-prone FLDS, their imprisoned Prophet, Warren Jeffs, and the raid on the YFZ Ranch. Editorial decisions on the degree of attention to give polygamists is reflected in the way that the Deseret News covers the FLDS. Deseret News reporter Ben Winslow chronicles the unfolding polygamy saga as part of his broader law enforcement beat. The well-designed Web page of the Deseret News has no equivalent to the Polygamy tab of the Tribune. However, a quick search on “polygamy,” “FLDS,” or “YFZ” in the Archives yields multiple hits, leading to well-researched, well-written stories, often by Winslow. Historical Background of Utah’s Foremost Newspapers The history of the papers in which these conversations between strangers take place provides a significant prologue to the reader feedback. The Salt Lake Tribune (Sunday circulation: 130,000) and the Deseret News (Sunday circulation : 79,000) dominate the print news media in Utah (“Only Sunday News Bucks Record Drop” 2009). Claudia Bushman (2006, 168–70) gives a fascinating sketch of the intertwined histories and rivalries of these two newspapers in her helpful Contemporary Mormonism. The papers reflect the religious fault lines that have dominated Utah for almost 150 years.1 The ex-Mormon founders of the Salt Lake Tribune set up in 1870 in opposition to LDS hegemony in Utah Territory, personified by Church President Brigham Young. The Deseret News, on the other hand, is Mormon founded and Mormon funded since 1850 and has generally defended the Church and its practices. But the Deseret News could not match the Tribune’s outsider voice or its unique perspective. Over time, as Utah developed and diversified, the two papers broadened their constituencies.2 Both came to understand themselves as broader-based “real” newspapers, not simply partisan mouthpieces. As Utah tended to be more Republican in the post–World War II twentieth century, the two newspapers further distinguished themselves: the Salt Lake Tribune as a liberal-centrist voice and the Deseret News as a...

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