| Show UTAH PRESS ASSOCIATION community was LaVerl Christensen Chris as he was affectionately known came to The Herald as city editor in 1939 He subsequently became managing editor then editor servingtotal of nearly 50 years before and after his retire ment in 1979 Christensen wastrue gentleman and well respected in the community Although long hours at the paper prevented him from participating in civic activities as much as he would have liked he was instrumental in promoting special events in the county wasmember of the Provo Chamber of Commerce taught classesin journalism at Brigham Young University and encouraged patriotism through his editorials Christensen won two George Washington Honor Medals from the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge Pennsylvania Typically carryingthick pencil Christensen washands-off editor who worked shoulder-to-shoulder with his staff He strove to be fair Once when he receivedspeeding ticket his name appeared in the paper along with those of others who had been cited Christensen wanted the news to be factual and timely yet kind or soft as some described it No one ever filedlibel suit against the paper during his tenure When Christensen retired in 1979 Bennett Ben Hansen was named as managing editor He came from the Scripps owned Enterprise Courier in Oregon City Oregon Hansen changed The Herald from its colloquial style tomore modern design and journalistic approach He was aggressive in covering controversial social and religious issues and the comfort level so carefully nurtured by Christensen among readers and newsmakers was dismissed as archaic by Hansen Having developedreputation ascrusader Hansen was hired by larger newspaper in 1983 He was succeeded by Robert McDougall Brigham Young University graduate who was mentored by both Christensen and Hansen McDougall native of Australia withkeen wit attempted to temper The Heraldbrash reputation under Hansen withChristensen-like approach to dealing with the 146 Digital image 2005 Marriott Library University of Utah Al rights reserved |
