Tribune and Fox 13 announce newsgathering partnership

In a continuing effort to mitigate the impact of a major reduction in its news staff in May, The Salt Lake Tribune has announced a partnership with television station KSTU Fox 13 to collaborate by sharing content. In a joint press release last week, the two organizations said they will begin cross-promoting stories and highlighting those they determine to be the best in both media — online, in print and on the air. The collaboration started June 11.

The Tribune laid off 34 employees in May, citing the need to put in place drastic cost-cutting measures in the face of continuing declines in print circulation and advertising revenues. The cutbacks amounted to one-third of the paper’s staff.       

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The Tribune previously had a close working relationship with Salt Lake City CBS affiliate KUTV Channel 2, but apparently chose to team with Fox 13 because of its more extensive local news operation. Channel 13 has 10 1/2 hours of daily news programming.

“For decades, the Tribune has taken pride in serving as Utah’s independent voice and we’ve found a kindred team in Fox 13,” said Tribune Editor Jennifer Napier-Pearce in the joint release. “We admire Fox 13’s strength as a broadcast and social media leader and we are thrilled to join forces to offer Utah’s most in-depth and relevant news on multiple platforms.”

Napier-Pearce said that Tribune reporters and editors will appear regularly on Fox 13 local news programs and that stories produced by Fox 13 will appear in the Tribune’s print editions as well as on its website.

“We’re very excited to expand our reach with such a distinguished and respected partner as the Tribune,” said Fox 13 News Director Marc Sternfield. “Fox 13 News shares the Tribune’s vision of providing the most reliable and highest-quality news coverage for Utah and this partnership will strengthen both news organizations. It’s a big win for the public.”

In an email to subscribers that contained the announcement about the collaboration with Channel 13, Napier-Pearce also gave assurances that the Tribune’s news product would continue to be strong.

“Thank you for your loyal support during what has been a turbulent time for the Tribune newsroom,” Napier-Pearce said. “Despite recent cutbacks and the financial uncertainty swirling around the news business, I can assure you the Tribune staff is resilient and remains committed to bringing you the highes-quality, most reliable and thoughtful local news every day.”{/mprestriction}