| Show UTAH PRESS ASSOCIATION late Harrison Conover of the Springville Herald remembered the most torrid conflict for the readerdollar happening when the Deseret News and Salt Lake Tribune were in fierce head-to head circulation competition It obviously extended into the hinterlands for Conover felt it fifty miles from the capital city His recollection inUtah State Press Association convention talk drew nods of agreement from other outlying publishers some an even greater distance from Salt Lake City Similar news and circulation conflicts focussed on dailies in Logan and Ogden as well perhaps more so in the StandardExaminerarea since it reached within the boundaries of more less-than-daily publications And when the Color Country Spectrum becamesuccessful southern Utah daily both the Washington County News and the Iron County Record once county seat weeklies ceased to exist The strength of Salt Lake Citydailies was understand ablygrowth barrier to suburban weekliesin Bountiful Midvale Magna Sugar House South Salt Lake and Murray Important news of those communities was generally printed first by the Tribune and News dulling the impact of the story appearing in the weekly Larger advertisers located in the suburban towns were attracted to the wider circulation base of the dailies as well which cut into the financial income of the smaller publications But while the competitive struggle for the ad-dollar was an important factor for the suburban papers it could more properly be described asminor annoyance to the city dailies And among major cities across the nation such daily-versus-suburban clashes were the norm not the excep tion The competitive factor tended to ebb and flow In many out-state communities the weekly editor ormember of the staff wasstringer for the Trib or the News on occasion And probablyquite capable one since he or she was one of the townfew knowledgeable journalists So by and large the daily-weekly relationship was congenial if not always totally pleasant One of the few out-and-out confrontations took place during the 1960s While Utahother 134 Digital image 2005 Marriott Library University of Utah Al rights reserved |
