Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 1969 The Utah Newspaper War of 1968: Liquor-by-the-Drink Raymond E. Beckham Sr. Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the Journalism Studies Commons, and the Mormon Studies Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Beckham, Raymond E. Sr., "The Utah Newspaper War of 1968: Liquor-by-the-Drink" (1969). Theses and Dissertations. 4515. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4515 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. THE UTAH NEWSPAPER WAR OF 1968: LIQUOR-BY-THE-DRINK A Thesis Presented to the Department of Communications Brigham Young University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts by Raymond E. Beckham August 1969 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION 1 The Problem 3 Extent and Limitations of the Study 4 Justification for the Study 4 Methodology 5 Definitions of Terms Used 6 Column inch 6 Pro 6 Con 6 Neutral 7 News story ............................................ 7 Editorial 7 Letters to the editor 8 Columnists 8 Advertising 8 The Church, or Mormon 8 LBD 8 II. THE HISTORICAL SETTING . 9 The Background of the Liquor Issue in Utah .... 9 Historical Background of Utah's Two Major Newspapers 11 ii CHAPTER PAGE III. A QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE OVER-ALL BATTLE ... 18 The Newspaper Space and When It Was Used 19 The Newspaper Space and How It Was Used 25 Supporting or Opposing Liquor by the Drink ... 25 The Type of Articles Used in the Newspapers . 29 The Newspaper Space and Where It Was Used .... 31 The Page of the Newspaper 32 The Placement of Stories on the Page 36 The Continuing of Stories on Another Page ... 39 IV. A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE BATTLE 41 The News Columns 41 Treatment of the News Columns by the Salt Lake Tribune 42 Treatment of the News Columns by the Deseret News 49 The Television Debates and Their Coverage .... 55 The June 12th television debate 55 The June 19th television debate 61 Editorials 66 Letters to the Editor 68 Comments by the Regular Columnists of the Two Newspapers 80 Paid Advertising 85 The Sunday Editions of the Tribune 87 V. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 91 The Standards of the Profession 91 iii CHAPTER PAGE Codes of Ethics Established by Leading Professional Organizations 92 Codes of Ethics Established by Individual Newspapers 99 Philadelphia Public Ledger 100 Brooklyn Eagle 100 The Christian Science Monitor 100 Springfield Republican ..... 101 Detroit News 101 The Hearst Papers 101 Dayton Journal 101 Sacramento Bee 101 Tampa Times 102 Marion Star . 102 Comments by Leaders in Journalism Concerning Ethics 102 A Comparison of the Activities of the Two Salt Lake City Newspapers with the Standards of the Journalism Profession 108 Newspapers have a responsibility to the public, and should balance rights of freedom with public service 108 Newspapers should use news columns for news, and editorial columns for opinions 108 Newspapers should serve the entire public and not segments of it 113 iv CHAPTER PAGE Newspapers should be accurate and truthful, and should maintain good faith with their readers. 114 Newspapers should be fair and impartial, and should not suppress news or information which is contrary to their views or opinions. Both sides of a public issue should be reported so that the public can make decisions in governing themselves . 115 Conclusions 116 BIBLIOGRAPHY 119 LIST OF TABLES A Chronological Comparison of the Total Weekly Insertions and Newspaper Space Devoted to Liquor By The Drink in the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News Between May 1 and July 5, 1968 A Comparison of the Number of Articles and the Column Inches in the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News Devoted to the Support of or Opposition to Liquor By The Drink from May 1— July 5, 1968 A Comparison of the Number of Articles and the Column Inches Devoted to the Support of or Opposition to Liquor By The Drink in the Two Salt Lake City Newspapers From May 1 through July 5, 1968, Excluding Sundays and Including Advertising A Chronological Comparison of the Types of Articles Used by the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News Showing the Number of Articles, the Space Used, and the Support or Opposition of Each to the Liquor-by-the-Drink Issue, Between May 1 and July 5, 1968 vi TABLE PAGE V. A Chronological Comparison of the Pages Used by the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News in Placing Articles About Liquor By The Drink, and the Support or Opposition of Those Articles to the Issue, May 1 through July 5,1968 34 VI. A Comparison of the Relative Positions of Newspaper Articles on the Pages of the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News Concerning Liquor By The Drink and the Support of or Opposition to the Issue, May 1— July 5, 1968 37 VII. A Comparison of News Articles in the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News on Liquor By The Drink, Showing the Number Which Were Printed Entirely on One Page and Those Continued on Other Pages, May 1— July 5, 1968 4-0 VIII. A Chronological Listing of the News Story Headlines in the Salt Lake Tribune Devoted to the Liquor-by-the-Drink Issue, May 1—July 5, 1968 IX. A Chronological Listing of News Stories Devoted to Liquor By The Drink, and Their Headlines, in the Deseret News, May 1— July 5, 1968 52 vii TABLE PAGE X. A Summary of the Space Used and the Number of Paragraphs in the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News Concerning Coverage Given to Two Television Debates on Liquor By The Drink on KUED-TV, Salt Lake City, June 12 and June 19, 1968 56 XI. A Comparison of the News Coverage Given by The Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News to Questions Asked on Two Television Debates Over KUED-TV, Salt Lake City, On Liquor By The Drink 58 XII. The Questions Asked on the June 12, 1968, KUED Television LBD Debate, and a Summary of the Coverage Given Those Questions by the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News 59 XIII. The Questions Asked on the June 19, 1968, KUED Television Debate on Liquor By The Drink and a Summary of the Coverage Given Those Questions by the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News ... 62 XIV. A Chronological Listing of the Editorials in the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News Concerning Liquor By The Drink, May 1— July 5, 1968 67 XV. A Chronological Listing of Letters to the Editor in the Salt Lake Tribune Concerning Liquor By The Drink, May 1—July 5, 1968 ... 70 viii TABLE PAGE XVI. A Chronological Listing of Letters to the Editor in the Deseret News Concerning Liquor By The Drink, May 1—July 5, 1968 ... 76 XVII. A Chronological Listing of the Comments Made by Columnists in the Salt Lake Tribune Concerning Liquor By The Drink, May 1— July 5, 1968 81 XVIII. A Summary of the Types of Articles and Their Support of or Opposition to Liquor By The Drink, Run in the Sunday Edition of the Salt Lake Tribune, May 1—July 5, 1968 89 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE PAGE 1. A Comparison of the Weekly Newspaper Space Devoted to Liquor by the Drink in the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News for Weeks Ending May 5 Through July 5, 1968 22 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News, two Salt Lake City newspapers which compete for circulation and recognition in the Utah-Idaho-Nevada-Wyoming market, have long had a tradition of opposing each other on public issues. The Tribune, in fact, was the main voice of opposition to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, owner of the Deseret News, during the early history of Utah when the territory was struggling to become a state. Their struggles spanned the last thirty years of the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth century before ownership changes in the Tribune brought about more peaceful relationships. It was no surprise, therefore, when these two newspapers squared off again for another battle, this time over the issue of liquor by the drink being available in bars and taverns (as opposed to the present system in Utah of liquor being sold in packaged form in state-controlled outlets and agencies). The system of packaged liquor has been the law in Utah since 1934, shortly after prohibition was repealed in the United States in 1933. Several different groups of citizens have attempted to modify the Utah law over the years to allow liquor to be sold 2 by the drink. The Utah Legislature, which has the power to amend the law or to enact new legislation, has resisted all such efforts to make any major changes. In 1968, proponents of liquor by the drink decided to take the issue to the people of the state through Utah's little-known and little-used initiative petition privileges. This required notarized signatures from at least ten per cent of the number of registered voters who cast ballots in the last gubernatorial election, and these signatures must exceed or equal ten per cent of the voters in a majority of the counties in the state. In this particular case, a total of at least 39,825 signa• tures would be required, representing ten per cent of the voters in at least fifteen counties.