A sad day today for one Utah’s most renowned newspapers, as the Desert News announced plans to eliminate almost half its staff.
 
57 full time employees and 28 part timers are being let go. That's 43% of the newspaper’s workforce.
 
Those that remain will move to the Triad Center, where they’ll share resources while forming a news cooperative with KSL television.
 
In today’s edition of The Deseret News, CEO Clark Gilbert said, “the Deseret News will bring a distinct voice to the marketplace — a voice which is driven by its values. “
 
Observers say that means the newspaper will continue its 150 year-old tradition of promoting the values of its owner, the LDS Church.
 
According to the D-News article, Mr. Gilbert called the decision to slash the staff of one the West’s most influential newspapers “enormously difficult.”
 
He went on to say, “At the Deseret News, we choose to lead and innovate” and that taking a leadership role meant making tough decisions.
 
Gilbert also said the newspaper planned turn to the Internet “to become a leader in the industry and model for change,“ a forum where the once great paper could “increase in-depth coverage from the organization's strong journalists on relevant issues audiences care most about. “
 
He then took part in live, half-hour long Twitter session to discuss the day’s announcement.   
The Deseret News was first published on June 15, 1850 and was named for the State of Deseret, the name Brigham Young gave to the new territory before it was known as Utah.
 
Today, the Deseret News is owned by Deseret News Publishing Company, a subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation, a business holdings company owned by the LDS Church.
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