Utah News Collaborative

After a statewide listening effort, The Tribune and partner news organizations launched the Utah News Collaborative in March 2021, as a way to share local reporting. The loose affiliation of TV, radio and print news organizations communicates via email and Slack, alerting partners to daily reporting or journalism that may be relevant to Utah communities. It filled two gaps multiple news organizations told us they experienced: 1) They weren’t getting daily reporting from the Legislature farther afield, and 2) Those in Salt Lake City had little awareness of what was happening in rural communities.

“Shots Fired”

The Tribune and PBS’s “Frontline” worked together to co-publish an award-winning documentary and series of stories, called ”Shots Fired.” The project compiled a database of police shootings in Utah, something no government agency — federal, state or municipal — had ever done. The documentary appeared on PBS stations in November 2021, and we hosted several viewings, including one at a local movie theater.

Sent Away

”Sent Away” is a seven-part podcast on the “troubled teen” industry in Utah.  Tribune reporter Jessica Miller had reported for years on troubled teens in Utah and the treatment centers that had sprung up offering services to desperate parents. Her deep knowledge was shared on a new platform with many more listeners than if we had produced it alone. American Public Media and local NPR station KUER led the production, with The Tribune’s Miller sharing original reporting and her vast expertise. Six months after publication, the podcast had reached more than 1.5 million people.

Great Salt Lake Collaborative

In 2022, The Tribune co-founded the Great Salt Lake Collaborative. With support from Solutions Journalism Network, in one year 23 organizations have published more than 200 stories and hosted more than a dozen events, including tours of the lake.

We’ve shared stories on how homeowners and renters can “flip their strip” and on how farmers can let their water rights go into the Great Salt Lake – thanks to a new law – without losing them altogether.
The governor and elected officials have called summits and hosted lake flyovers. The New York Times and The Washington Post have followed up our reporting. In its 2022 session, the Utah Legislature allocated $40 million to saving the lake. Just before 2022 ended, President Joe Biden signed a bill — backed by members of Utah’s congressional delegation, Sen. Mitt Romney and Rep. Blake Moore — approving $25 million in federal money to study the lake’s problems.

Amplify Utah

To give the next generation of journalists a taste of what we do, The Tribune collaborates with college journalism departments on a program called Amplify Utah. A faculty adviser at Salt Lake Community College sends us articles written by her student journalists, which The Tribune then edits to our standards and publishes — expanding our coverage to areas we may not have bandwidth for, and giving those students exposure in the state’s largest newspaper. After the first couple of years working with SLCC, the program is slowly expanding to Utah State University and Utah Valley University.