The Salt Lake Tribune announces plans to be free to all online readers, if donors support it

The Salt Lake Tribune will become free for anyone to access online — if Tribune supporters can help raise $1 million in the next year.

Lauren Gustus, The Tribune’s CEO and executive editor, announced the move to make the 154-year-old newspaper “open and free” during the Tribune’s second annual NewsMakers Gala — a fundraising dinner held in honor of the news and those who shape it.

The event honored Fraser Bullock, who brought the 2034 Winter Olympics back to Utah, as NewsMaker of the Year, Jennifer Mayer-Glenn, with the Utah Solutions Award, and David Noyce, with the Tribune Service Award.

“As a nonprofit, we believe everyone should have access to quality, independent news and information,” said Gustus to hundreds of donors, supporters and staffers Thursday night at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Salt Lake City.

Thanks to a one-to-one challenge grant from Salt Lake locals Summer and Chris Gibson, the paper will set its sights on the free model, while also reaching communities in St. George and the Cache Valley in 2025.

“Let’s close the gaps in Utah,” Gustus said. “Let’s make Tribune reporting open and free.”

Since The Tribune’s move to nonprofit status, Chris Gibson said he saw the potential to “accelerate” the publication’s vision of becoming Utah’s independent and open source of news.

A “long time” supporter and subscriber, Gibson joined The Tribune’s Board of Directors in June. As a scientist and CEO of biotechnology company Recursion, Gibson said he and his wife, Summer, a physician, rely on multiple independent sources of data to make decisions.

Gibson said he sees the model as a way to make the news a “one click” entry for Utahns.

“It doesn’t mean we have to agree with everything that’s written,” Gibson said, “But having high-quality, high-integrity journalism that looks at multiple sides of different stories, … that’s pretty essential for society.”

Making the grant a “challenge,” Gibson said, will help “maximize impact” and entice other supporters to join the paper’s mission.

“This is where we live,” Gibson said before the dinner. “We want to make sure that as many people as want it have access to the news from The Tribune.”

People interested in donating to The Tribune, as it pursues this challenge grant, can look online at sltrib.com/give.

Jennifer Mayer-Glenn

Mayer-Glenn was honored for her more than 20 years of work as an educator and community leader. For the past five years, Mayer-Glenn has helped build university-community partnerships as director of UNP, and as special assistant to the President Taylor Randall for campus-community partnerships.

“Jenny is doggedly persistent in elevating those who are usually not given the microphone,” said Rebecca Chavez-Houck, former Utah legislator and current Tribune board member.

Chavez-Houck added that Mayer-Glenn, her friend, is “fiercely committed to sharing stories about the challenges and success of many who are usually not given a platform to broadcast their perspectives and experiences.”

While accepting the award, Mayer-Glenn pointed to her parents, who she said taught her the importance of “bringing people together.”

“When we are proactive about partnering with people who have been historically unheard,” Mayer-Glenn said, “We have better outcomes.”

Mayer-Glenn, crediting her pioneer ancestors who came to the valley when Utah was Mexican territory, sees herself as a “pioneer and new American Chicano” stock. Her background, she said, allows her to see the world through both lenses.

“This paved the way for me to dedicate my professional and community life to being a bridge between those who have power in our institutions and those who do not,” she said.

Fraser Bullock

Bullock is credited with securing the 2002 Winter Olympics in Utah, and is working again to help create a successful event when the 2034 Winter Games begin. He was joined by longtime friend, Ambassador Jeff Flake, on stage for a Q&A. Flake, who is a former U.S. Congressman representing Arizona, recently moved to Utah to serve as Board Chair for World Trade Center Utah.

Bullock, Gustus said, is “the man who knows as much about running the Olympics as anyone in this country.”

However, Bullock called himself only “one member” of Team Utah.

“Utah is what brought the Games back,” said Bullock, who served as the COO and CFO of the organizing committee for the 2002 Winter Games. “It’s the fulfillment of a dream that has been ongoing for 22 years.”

Bullock, an entrepreneur and partner of Sorenson Capital, said the 2034 Games will look at how the Olympics can be used as a “platform for good.” A key area, Bullock said, will be to involve Utah’s 29 counties through educational programming.

“In these nine years, we’re going to put in a lot of work,” Bullock said, “But our key focus is really going to be our kids who are our future.”

David Noyce

Noyce — whose duties as senior managing editor include leading the paper’s faith, government and community reporting — celebrated 40 years at The Tribune earlier this year.

Noyce is known as The Tribune’s “detail guy,” senior religion reporter Peggy Fletcher Stack said, adding that his dedication to the paper is 24/7.

“He does it all because he cares passionately about the community,” Stack said. “He treasures fairness and celebrates the writers in his care.”

While Noyce made his official start in journalism as a reporter in Richfield, his first stint, he remembered, was “Montgomery Street Times,” a one-page paper he oversaw at 10 years old.

“Newspapers,” Noyce said, “are in my blood. And have been since I was in grade school.” Noyce’s father worked at The Tribune’s longtime rival, the Deseret News.

Thinking back through fond memories as a Tribune copy editor and later news editor, Noyce, to this day, he said, still “gets juiced by journalism.”

“I never really got over the thrill that comes from being the first one in the world — the nation, the state, the city or even the block — to tell people that something has happened,” he said. “We used to celebrate beating the competition by a day. Now, we celebrate beating the competition by seconds.”