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CHAPTER EIGHT Utah's Six Surviving Dailies For many years after the formation of Utah Press Association, dailies were active members. But eventually the larger papers and their smaller cousins drifted apart. James A. Owens of the Provo Daily Herald, in 1935-36, was the last representative of the daily press to serve as President until those papers rejoined UPA more than a half-century later. Lapse of daily membership wasn't the result of a conflict. In general, the weeklies and the larger city papers continued to maintain an amicable relationship and the Salt Lake Tribune was an ongoing associate member. Nevertheless, the publications simply went their separate ways. Unlike many states, the dailies didn't organize an association of their own. But there were only five until the Color Country Spectrum came on the scene in the 1980s, so the mutual gain probably wouldn't have justified the effort. All were together in the regional Associated Press organization, which in addition to journalistic camaraderie and conferences on product improvement, offered a contest for news and editorial writing and photography. In some areas, the competitive factor may have entered into the separation of Utah's dailies from the weeklies. Or at least made them arm's length neighbors. Utah County and its near environs, for example, contained not only the Provo daily, but weeklies in Payson, Spanish Fork, Springville, Orem, American Fork, Pleasant Grove and Lehi. In the process of covering the news, the Daily Herald obviously invaded the field of one or more of the smaller papers. But that's the "name of the game" in newspapering - print the story first. Needless to say, there was competition for subscribers as well. But that wasn't limited to Provo vs. The Weeklies. The 133 |