The Media Scrum

03/23/2024

As I've noted previously -- along with others -- there is absolutely no reason for public officials to hide their activities except they are ashamed of their behavior and don't want voters to find out what those shameful activities are. (As noted in the article, the open-records law already contained protections for private/family/health/safety concerns.) This is what supermajorities in government breed: dishonesty, deception, corruption. And to know that most of these people worship at the same church I do makes me grieve their actions all the more. But they will not pay a price at the ballot box because they are Republicans in Utah. That they do this and feel no guilt whatsoever makes me nauseated.

The Utah Legislature says it will not release lawmakers' public calendars, even though the requests were made before Gov. Spencer Cox quickly signed new legislation that shrouded elected officials in secrecy.

01/30/2024

“As local journalism declines, government officials conduct themselves with less integrity, efficiency, and effectiveness and corporate malfeasance goes unchecked,” observed PEN America in a 2019 white paper. “With the loss of local news, citizens are: less likely to vote, less politically informed, and less likely to run for office.” Not all citizens, though. A weakened local press corps is a gift to someone like George Santos, whose serial fabrications went mostly (if not entirely) unreported during his campaign for Congress.

The news industry has been in decline for decades, but the latest round of layoffs is especially ominous.

06/08/2022

The Media Scrum podcast is on hiatus. Here are the details:

We haven't published an episode since April. Here's why, and the plans for Season 3.

04/19/2022

This time on The Media Scrum we speak with Rep. Steve Handy, who represents House District 16 in the Utah Legislature. Steve’s a six-term incumbent who just got tossed by delegates to the GOP Davis County Convention. He talks about that, and other things – including his 17 years at the Standard-Examiner and Deseret News, and a lot more. Our sincere thanks for listening; we hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Listen via your favorite podcast app, or click here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1215551/10420728-rep-steve-handy

04/05/2022

This time on The Media Scrum we speak with Amy Joi O’Donoghue, a reporter for the Deseret News’ Utah In-Depth team with decades of expertise and award-winning writing in land and environmental issues, public safety and government beats. Mark and I have known Amy since 1985, when we all worked together at the Standard-Examiner in Ogden. Amy’s family lives in Weber County with their horses, chickens, Irish Wolfhounds and Jack the cat. Listen via your favorite podcast app, or click here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1215551/10304430-amy-joi-o-donoghue

03/10/2022

Our most recent guest at The Media Scrum podcast is Chris Carlson, who worked in TV News for 42 years. As an ABC network news cameraman in Washington, D.C., Carlson had a front-row seat to history. In covering Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, Carlson logged scores of unique experiences. He retired three years ago, and has self-published an eBook, “9/11 with POTUS,” that’s available for purchase at your favorite online bookseller. In this clip from the podcast, Carlson talks about being in the room when George W. Bush was told terrorists attacked the World Trade Center towers in New York City. Listen via your favorite podcast app, or click here to listen to the entire episode: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1215551/10205548-chris-carlson-9-11-with-potus

03/08/2022

This time at The Media Scrum we venture outside the Utah media bubble and speak with Chris Carlson, who worked in TV News for 42 years. As an ABC network news cameraman in Washington, D.C., Carlson had a front-row seat to history. In covering Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, Carlson logged scores of unique experiences. Over the decades he spent at the White House, Carlson witnessed many leaders of the "free world" from just 12 feet away, filming the nation’s political history as it was happening. He retired three years ago, and has self-published an eBook, “9/11 with POTUS,” that’s available for purchase at your favorite online bookseller. We really enjoyed talking to Carlson, and we hope you enjoy listening. Listen via your favorite podcast app.

02/22/2022

This time on The Media Scrum we speak with Lori Buttars, longtime reporter for The Salt Lake Tribune. Lori covered the Olympics, arts and music, and other beats at the Trib. She also was a “visiting professional” at Utah State University where she was editor of the student newspaper. Back in 2007, Lori fled journalism for public relations, and became public information officer for the Weber-Morgan Health Department. Indeed, we actually spend a fair amount of this conversation talking about local public health's response to the coronavirus pandemic, which we found fascinating. We sure enjoyed talking to Lori, and we hope you enjoy listening. Listen via your favorite podcast app, or click here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1215551/10114887-lori-buttars

02/08/2022

This time out things are a little different, since Mark had a conflict the evening of the interview, and I ended up speaking with our guest, the Deseret News’s Jay Evensen, one-on-one. Jay is the DNews’s editorial columnist and an editorial writer. He got his start in journalism at BYU, interned at United Press International in New York City, wrote sports in Oklahoma, and was a government and consumer affairs reporter in Las Vegas before landing at the Deseret News. We haven’t talked to many folks from newspapers’ opinion pages on The Media Scrum, so this was fun reconnecting with Jay – I hadn’t communicated with him for years and years – and hearing how he got his start and what it's like to be the editorial voice of a newspaper’s ownership. Listen via your favorite podcast app, or click here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1215551/10009132-jay-evensen

01/25/2022

Our latest episode of The Media Scrum podcast revisits our summer 2021 conversation with Mary Nickles, whose career at KUTV in Salt Lake City has passed the 30-year mark. 30 years is forever in ultra-competitive TV news, and Mary has been the morning, noon or evening anchor on KUTV’s various news programs for almost all that time. Not only is she a pro on the news set, but she’s done health stories over the years that have actually saved lives – including her own. She talks about that, and lots more, on this episode. We had lots of fun talking to Mary, and we hope you enjoy our conversation. Listen via your favorite podcast app, or click here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1215551/9945848-mary-nickles

12/28/2021

We sincerely hope you’ve been having a terrific holiday season. We have, and that’s the reason we’re revisiting one of the earliest episodes of the podcast, from August 2020, with our friend Holly Mullen, because all the holiday stuff has taken up our time and that of our coming group of guests. Holly, bless her heart, was one of the first people we asked to be a guest on the podcast. She’s a certified institution in Utah journalism. She currently serves as a member of The Salt Lake Tribune's board of directors, but Holly's career has taken her around the country working for both legacy newspapers and alternative weeklies. In Utah, she's worked as a reporter, editor and/or columnist at the Deseret News, Standard-Examiner, The Salt Lake Tribune and City Weekly. We got to know Holly at the Standard-Examiner in the mid-'80s, and we’ve remained friends ever since. Listen via your favorite podcast app, or click here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1215551/9795259-holly-mullen

11/30/2021

This week we speak with Dave Greiling, who was the Standard-Examiner’s managing editor for a decade from 2003-2013. Dave grew up in Green Bay, Wis., and worked for newspapers in Rickford, Ill., Lansing, Mich., and Ft. Collins, Colo., before landing in Ogden. Any list of well-regarded and highly respected editors in Utah newspapering would include Dave, who served as a voice of reason, sound judgment and was a mentor to many reporters who came through Ogden during his tenure. Dave retired to Ft. Collins eight years ago, and we had fun talking with our old friend and daily lunchmate. Listen via your favorite podcast app, or click here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1215551/9621652-dave-greiling

11/16/2021

This week on The Media Scrum podcast we speak with Bob Evans, who co-anchors the evening news at Fox 13. Bob’s won numerous awards over the years for his work, and is one of those TV anchors who still reports his own stories. Bob grew up in Tacoma, Washington, and studied the violin on a music scholarship at BYU before switching to journalism. Bob worked his early years in TV news in Boise, Spokane and Kansas City before landing in Salt Lake City, where he’s been for decades now. He’s a fun guy to talk to, and very passionate about journalism in this day and age. Listen via your favorite podcast app, or click here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1215551/9555835-bob-evans

10/12/2021

This week we speak with Sheree Josephson, former chair of the Department of Communication at Weber State University who has taught journalism and other communication classes at WSU for more than 28 years. She was recently honored with the Clifford P. Cheney Service to Journalism award by the Utah chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Mark and I used to work with Dr. Josephson at the Standard-Examiner in Ogden. She’s also worked at Logan’s Herald-Journal and the Colorado Springs Sun in Colorado Springs, Colo. So, sit back and listen to this former reporter, editor and current moulder of journalistic minds, Dr. Sheree Josephson. Listen via your favorite podcast app, or click here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-media-scrum/id1527430995?i=1000538307757

09/28/2021

This week we repeat our September 2020 conversation with KUTV reporter Morgan Saxton, who near the start of her career worked with Mark at the Standard-Examiner. In retrospect, it’s been quite a year for Morgan, who not long after this interview revealed she was expecting her first child and has since given birth to her beautiful daughter, Charlotte. Listen via your favorite podcast app, or click here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1215551/9270811-morgan-saxton-repeat

09/21/2021

This week we thought it would be fun to repeat an episode from December 2020 with Calvin Grondahl, without a doubt the king of Utah editorial cartoonists. Cal began his career at BYU, was hired by the Deseret News and later fled to the Standard-Examiner in the quest for some freedom to draw what he wanted. Mark and I worked with Cal for many, many fun and eventful years at the Standard-Examiner, and remember those years fondly. Cal’s now retired, and has been for a number of years, but he shares lots of stories about what it was like to be the cartoonist who broke ground for all those who followed. Listen via your favorite podcast app, or click here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1215551/9232251-cal-grondahl-repeat

09/14/2021

This week we’re repeating a fun and interesting conversation from February that we had with Stacey and Greg Kratz – who’ve had decades-long careers in Utah journalism, most significantly at the Standard-Examiner and Deseret News, but lots of other outlets, too, and you’ll hear about those during our conversation. Mark and I got to know the Kratzes way back in the Land Before Time, and we’ve always had enormous respect for their talents and their personalities. So, we think you’ll get a kick out of this one – we sure did. Listen via your favorite podcast app, or click here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1215551/9189366-stacey-greg-kratz-repeat

08/31/2021

This week on The Media Scrum podcast we speak with Lynn Arave, who wrote for the Deseret News from 1979 to 2011, followed by stints as a freelance columnist at both the DNews and Standard-Examiner. Lynn’s also authored and co-authored a number of books about various aspects of Utah history. We had some fun talking with Lynn, and we hope you enjoy the conversation. Listen via your favorite podcast app, or click here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1215551/9102129-lynn-arave

08/24/2021

This week we speak with Randall Carlisle, who, before he retired a few years back, had been a TV news anchor in the Utah market on and off since 1980 – that’s four decades, people. Randall started at KUTV, but spent the most time – two decades-plus – at KTVX. We think you’ll find this episode to be revealing and blunt: Randall talks openly about his addiction and recovery – he offered up this photo of himself, on the left behind the anchor desk and on the right passed out on a couch – and about what it was like to be a top talent in local-market broadcast journalism. We had a great time talking to Randall, and we hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did. Listen via your favorite podcast app, or click here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1215551/9075180-randall-carlisle

08/03/2021

This week's guest is Paul Murphy, Don's friend and fellow journalism student and practitioner at Utah State University. After graduation, Paul began his broadcast journalism career in Texas, then returned to Utah and worked at KTVX for more than a decade. After that, he jumped into government service as Director of Communications and Policy for the attorney general’s office, where he was for a dozen years. And he’s done plenty since, which we talk about. We had a great time chatting with Paul, and really hope you enjoy the conversation. Listen via your favorite podcast app, or click here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1215551/8911610-paul-murphy

07/27/2021

This week on The Media Scrum podcast we speak with Cathy McKitrick, who retired a couple of years back from the Standard-Examiner in Ogden. Before that, Cathy worked for several years at The Salt Lake Tribune. Now in semi-retirement, Cathy is involved with The Utah Investigative Journalism Project and other organizations that aim to keep journalism alive and well in the Beehive State. Like a lot of our guests, Cathy’s route to the newsroom was unorthodox but has paid off for the people who read the news, because she’s a talented and dogged reporter. We had a lot of fun talking to Cathy, and we hope you enjoy the conversation. Listen via your favorite podcast app, or click here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1215551/8903737-cathy-mckitrick

07/20/2021

This week on The Media Scrum podcast we have a conversation with Scott Schwebke, an investigative reporter for the Orange County Register in California. Scott went to California from the Standard-Examiner in Ogden, where he covered city government and other beats. He’s also worked at papers in Virginia, North Carolina and Colorado. He’s covered everything from natural disasters, plane crashes, crooked cops and politics to providing readers an eyewitness, award-winning account of the ex*****on of a death-row inmate. We had a lot of fun talking to Scott, and we hope you enjoy the conversation. Listen via your favorite podcast app, or click here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1215551/8891629-scott-schwebke

07/13/2021

This week we’re repeating our January conversation with Dennis Romboy. Dennis is a University of Utah grad who began his career at the Standard-Examiner in Ogden, but soon left for the Deseret News, where he’s worked for decades right up to the present day. Dennis has covered all sorts of beats during his reporting career, but is probably most well-known for his stories about politics. He’s an interesting guy who’s had an interesting career and, as you’ll discover while listening, he’s traveled the world doing the thing that he loves. We had fun catching up with Dennis, and we hope you enjoy listening. Listen via your favorite podcast app, or click this link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1215551/8851076-dennis-romboy-repeat

06/29/2021

This week at The Media Scrum we have a conversation with Pat Bean, who had five kids by age 25, then talked her way into a newspaper career, where she worked for 37 years. She’s currently writing a memoir, tentatively titled “Between Wars” – that’s her title because she says her first significant bylined story was an interview with a mother whose son had been killed in Vietnam and one of her last pieces of journalism was an opinion column urging President Bush not to send American troops into Iraq during the wake of 9/11. Listen via your favorite podcast app, or click here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1215551/8771914-pat-bean

06/22/2021

This week at The Media Scrum podcast we have a conversation with Mary Nickles, whose career at KUTV in Salt Lake City just passed the 30-year mark – and 30 years is forever in TV news. Mary has been the morning, noon and/or evening anchor on KUTV’s various news programs for about 25 of those years. Not only is she a pro on the news set, but she’s done health stories over the years that have actually saved lives – including her own. She talks about that, and lots more, on this episode. We had a lot of fun talking to Mary, and we hope you enjoy our conversation. Listen via your favorite podcast app, or click this link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1215551/8741128-mary-nickles