This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Here in Zion we are witnessing history repeat itself, right before our eyes! The Destruction of the Salt Lake Tribune! A repeat of the dastardly deed by the omnipotent hierarchy of the LDS Church in silencing the open expression of free speech. The choking off of income to the Salt Lake Tribune via changing the "publishing agreement" is in essence the same thing that Joseph Smith and his apostolic gang did to the Nauvoo Expositor 170 years ago.
In June 1844 Joseph Smith, aka mayor, lieutenant general, presidential candidate, escaped fugitive, prophet, seer revelator , ordered through his puppet city council the destruction of a local newspaper, the Nauvoo Expositor. Even though the paper proclaimed the belief that the church was true, it criticized Joseph as a fallen prophet.
On orders a posse of several hundred broke into the small building, dragging the press and type into the street and destroyed them. Then, as today, the reason for the "destruction" of an independent newspaper is the same. Although today the methods are different, the intended results are not. The Salt Lake Tribune, like the Nauvoo Expositor, has been a "nuisance" to the church and its dogmatic voice, the Deseret News.
Ken Knighton
Bountiful