During heightened institutional scrutiny of LGBTQ students at BYU, the Tribune was among outlets that reported on actions taken by the church-owned university—an early example of coverage linking LDS institutions to broader civil-rights controversies.
The LDS Church announced it would extend priesthood and temple blessings to Black members; The Salt Lake Tribune covered the change and ensuing reactions, marking a major moment in Utah religion reporting with national implications.
Days after the 1978 announcement, the paper reported President Spencer W. Kimball’s comments about the revelation, reflecting the Tribune’s role in documenting official LDS leadership responses for the wider public.
James E. (“Jay”) Shelledy served as Tribune editor from 1991 to 2003, encompassing much of the 1990s period when the paper expanded and professionalized religion coverage amid frequent public friction with Utah’s dominant faith.
Religion journalist Peggy Fletcher Stack joined The Salt Lake Tribune to launch its "Faith" column, helping institutionalize a dedicated, high-visibility beat for LDS Church and broader religion coverage.
The term “September Six”—coined by The Salt Lake Tribune—became a widely used shorthand for six LDS members disciplined in September 1993, highlighting tensions between church authority and intellectual or feminist dissent.
After LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley visited Mountain Meadows in 1998, the church announced plans to replace earlier memorial structures. The episode set the stage for renewed public attention—and later Tribune reporting—on the massacre and its memory.
During construction preparations for the new memorial, a backhoe uncovered human remains at Mountain Meadows. The discovery intensified scrutiny of the massacre’s history and fed later investigative narratives in Utah media, including the Tribune.
The LDS Church dedicated a rebuilt monument at Mountain Meadows. The memorialization process, disputes over interpretation, and subsequent media coverage underscored ongoing sensitivities around LDS institutional responsibility for the 1857 massacre.
The Tribune published a three-part series on the Mountain Meadows Massacre, using the renewed attention from the 1999 monument work and remains discovery to revisit one of the LDS Church’s most painful historical episodes.
A New York Times report (reprinted by Deseret News) described local resentment over Tribune reporting that asked “uncomfortable questions” about the LDS Church, including scrutiny of church-related development proposals and LGBTQ issues.
When the LDS Church formally requested more consistent use of its full name, the Tribune’s editor stated the paper would stop using "Mormon Church" while continuing to use the full name and "LDS Church" on later references—an example of newsroom style intersecting with church public-relations goals.
The Salt Lake Tribune and coverage of the LDS Church (1970-2000)
