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Outlet profile

Deseret News

U.S. right-center, faith and family values orientation

Owned byDeseret News Publishing Company, a subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation, which is wholly owned by the Corporation of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the LDS Church)
FundingAdvertising and digital/print subscriptions; expected to be financially self-sustaining and not directly subsidized by the LDS Church, though ultimate ownership rests with the church
On the administrationmixed

Background

The Deseret News was founded on June 15, 1850, in Salt Lake City by LDS Church president Brigham Young, making it one of the oldest continuously published newspapers west of the Mississippi River. It has remained under LDS Church ownership throughout its history, held since 1966 through Deseret Management Corporation, a church-controlled for-profit holding company. In August 2010, the paper underwent a major restructuring that included a 43 percent workforce reduction and a refocused editorial mission around six core areas: family, faith in the community, educational excellence, values in media, financial responsibility, and care for the poor. That same year it launched a national weekly print edition distributed alongside the LDS Church News, targeting faith-oriented readers across all 50 states. Media analysts at Pew Research Center have noted its unusual dual-transformation strategy — simultaneously reinventing its local print product and building a separate digital media operation. In 2020, the paper moved from a daily print schedule to a weekly print edition, shifting its primary presence to deseret.com. Bias-rating organizations place it between center and right-center: Media Bias/Fact Check rates it right-center with high factual accuracy, while AllSides rates it center with low confidence. A 2025 critic argued its reporting on the Trump administration was too subdued, though the outlet has also published polling showing Trump's approval falling below 50 percent among Utahns amid the ongoing Iran conflict.

Sources

  1. Deseret News – Wikipedia
  2. Deseret Management Corporation – Wikipedia
  3. Deseret News – Changing Two Media Cultures | Pew Research Center
  4. Religious but not Mormon? The church-owned Deseret News considers you a growth market | Nieman Journalism Lab
  5. Deseret News Media Bias | AllSides
  6. Deseret News – Bias and Credibility | Media Bias/Fact Check
  7. Trump disliked in Utah over ongoing Iran war – Deseret News
  8. The Deseret News is Failing Utah – The Utah Monthly

Profile compiled 2026-06-28; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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