Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 2007-12-05 Pioneers in Twentieth Century Mormon Media: Oral Histories of Latter-day Saint Electronic and Public Relations Professionals Jonice L. Hubbard Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the Communication Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Hubbard, Jonice L., "Pioneers in Twentieth Century Mormon Media: Oral Histories of Latter-day Saint Electronic and Public Relations Professionals" (2007). Theses and Dissertations. 1256. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/1256 This Selected Project 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]. PIONEERS IN TWENTIETH CENTURY MORMON MEDIA: Oral Histories of Latter-day Saint Electronic Media and Public Relations Professionals by Jonice L. Hubbard A project submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Communications Department of Communications Brigham Young University October 2007 Copyright © 2007 Jonice L. Hubbard All rights reserved ii BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY GRADUATE COMMITTEE APPROVAL a project submitted by Jonice L. Hubbard This project has been read and viewed by each member of the following graduate committee and by majority vote has been found to be satisfactory. __________________________ ______________________________________ Date Dr. Dale Cressman, Chair __________________________ ______________________________________ Date Dr. Sherry Baker __________________________ _______________________________________ Date Chris Cutri iii BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY As chair of the candidate’s graduate committee, I have read and viewed the project of Jonice L. Hubbard in its final form and have found that (1) its format, citations and bibliographical style are consistent and acceptable and fulfill university and department style requirements; (2) its illustrative materials including figures, tables, and charts are in place; and (3) the final manuscript and DVDs are satisfactory to the graduate committee and are ready for submission to the university library. __________________________ _______________________________________ Date Dr. Dale Cressman Chair, Graduate Committee Accepted for the Department __________________________ _______________________________________ Date Dr. Kevin Stoker Graduate Coordinator/Department chair Accepted for the College __________________________ ________________________________________ Date Dean Stephen M. Jones College of Fine Arts and Communications iv ABSTRACT PIONEERS IN TWENTIETH CENTURY MORMON MEDIA: Oral Histories of Latter-day Saint Electronic Media and Public Relations Professionals Jonice L. Hubbard Department of Communications Master of Communications The project consists of three parts: a summary of the research, a collection of sixteen oral histories of Latter-day Saint Electronic Media and Public Relations professionals who contributed to the development and growth of media in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and a one-hour documentary film, Pioneers in Mormon Media, which gives a brief history of the development of modern mass communications and its use by the Church. This qualitative study investigates who has been involved in Church media, what projects have been accomplished and provides some explanation as to why the Church uses media. The oral histories which are in DVD format are available in Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. The library has also made them available online at http://byugle.lib.byu.edu. Transcriptions of the oral histories are located in the appendix. The documentary film is available through BYU Broadcasting and the Harold B. Lee Library. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Successful research projects require coordinating the efforts of many people. Major financial assistance was generously provided by the David P. and Carmela T. Forsyth Fund and the Wendell J. Ashton Research Professorship. Funding from the Brigham Young University Department of Theatre and Media Arts was obtained through the assistance of Thomas J. Lefler. I express deep appreciation to my husband, William B. Hubbard for his generous support and cheerful sacrifices through the many long hours that were required to complete the project. Special thanks to Dr. Holly J. Christianson for critiques and encouragement. Major contributors were my committee, particularly Dr. Dale Cressman and Dr. Sherry Baker for their insight as they guided the entire process which we knew would be lengthy but at every step they provided insight and direction. I would like to particularly acknowledge Diena Simmons of BYU Broadcasting for her commitment from the beginning which allowed the use of BYU Broadcasting personnel and resources to accomplish the filming and editing in a professional manner. The documentary film, Pioneers in Mormon Media would not have been possible without the honest critiques of Rob Sibley, Managing Producer, who contributed research information and enlarged the scope of the story. Christel Lane, my proofreader made the kinds of corrections to the histories that made them much more readable. And lastly, I would like to acknowledge the One, who gave the inspiration in the first place that these stories were important to the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and needed to be preserved for future generations. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Project Description . 1 Appendix of Oral Histories. 34 vii Pioneers in Twentieth Century Mormon Media: Oral Histories of Latter-day Saint Electronic Media and Public Relations Professionals Introduction The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, hereafter referred to as ―the Church‖ or ―LDS Church‖ was organized in 1830. Proclaiming a religious restoration, Joseph Smith, the first Prophet, Seer, and Revelator for the Church, sought for ways and means to declare that message. The Book of Mormon (from which Mormonism gets its name), the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price--books which Joseph Smith translated, received, or recorded as new scripture—along with the Bible provide the theological foundation for the religion. Armed only with the Book of Mormon, missionaries began to fulfill the command to take the message to all the world. Elder Orson Pratt, an early missionary for the Church spoke prophetically on December 28, 1873 of the future of modern mass communications (Donigan, 1963, p. 1). There must be something connected with the sounding of this trump that is miraculous in order that all nations may hear it. Any sound that can be produced by mortal man does not reach, generally speaking, over about thirty miles from where it originates, which is a very small space indeed. But there will be something connected with the sounding of the trump of the first of the seven angels which will manifest a power which we know nothing of. The sound of that trump will be heard by all people, nations, kindreds, and tongues in the four quarters of our globe. I do not know that the sound will be so much louder than some we have heard, but it will be carried by some miraculous power so that all people will hear it. (Journal of Discourses, p. 328) 2 The invention of communications tools, unknown in 1830, such as the telegraph (1835), the telephone (1876), film (1895), radio (1895), television (1927) and the World Wide Web (1989) today make it possible for men to speak to one another across the globe. Early experiences of the Mormons with non-Mormons emphasized to the Church leaders the importance of having their own voice. Subsequently, when Church leaders used printing as a means of sending out the Restoration message, they also owned the press. As radio and other modern technologies became available, the Church moved into those arenas. Today the LDS Church uses modern technology for all of its mission- related purposes: missionary work, communication with members, fulfilling a role in society as a voice in the marketplace of ideas. It is now a leader among religions in many fields: advertising, TV-broadcasting, satellite technology to name a few. This study discovers a segment of their communications history. Owning media outlets has been a distinct part of the Church since its organization and has made the Church more familiar with media. Hollstein (1977) commented, ―Not many churches take such risks. The LDS Church is almost unique in operating a community-oriented media conglomerate in addition to its public relations arm, film-tape distribution system, book publishing and filmmaking enterprises.‖ (p. 22) Success is evident with the number of awards which have recognized media projects. For example, the Homefront series, thirty- and sixty-second spots on family, have won every broadcasting award in the United States as well as the Bronze Lion from the Cannes Film Festival (Prince, 2005, p. 138). As Church media personnel achieve excellence, we ask the question: Who has accomplished these works? Who are the major players? The purpose of this project is to record the oral histories of media leaders 3 and executives who have made significant contributions to the development of media and media resources in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Consequently, we may be able to draw from their