Rachel Piper

Digital news editor

Rachel has worked for The Tribune as night editor, a news editor and now as digital editor. She was part of The Tribune team that won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting. She previously was the editor of Salt Lake City Weekly.

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Sister Bonnie H. Cordon, general president of the Young Women Presidency, and Elder Brent Nielson, a general authority with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, stand in front of a directory of mission presidents at the Church Office Building on August 24, 2018. Nielson is the director of the missionary department and is spearheading changes to mission safety, particularly for sister missionaries. Cordon is a member of the Sister Safety Committee, which he Nielson formed in late 2016.

The LDS Church is trying to combat the idea that missionaries have special protection — but the strength of that culture could make it a difficult task

By Rachel Piper | August 31, 2018, 11:35 p.m.

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) "I've got to get out, I've got to get help," thought Maddy Cicotte as she ran naked into the streets of Cochabamba, Bolivia, to escape a sexual assault in June 2016 while serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Cicotte, pictured April 25, 2018 in Provo, still tries to find her own way of dealing with her depression and anger stemming from that day. To cope, Cicotte says she goes on a cleaning spree, or holes up in the bedroom she shares with her husband.

The LDS Church says it wasn’t ‘responding well’ to sexual assaults in the mission field. These two women helped its leaders see that.

By Rachel Piper | August 30, 2018, 5:36 a.m.

(Photo courtesy of Katie Abernathy Hoyos) A phone case that shows Disney characters in front of the LDS Temple in Salt Lake City has taken the internet by storm.

A company accidentally put the Mormon temple on ‘Beauty and the Beast’ phone cases, and the internet bought them all

By Rachel Piper | August 15, 2018, 1:16 a.m.

(Photo courtesy of Scott Condie) McKenzie Allen, far left, reads while waiting for the kickoff of the 2017 WriteOut camp in Cedar City.

She pulls out books during social gatherings. When other teens at this Utah writing camp did the same, she realized, ‘My gosh, there’s more of us.’

By Rachel Piper | June 22, 2018, 6:55 p.m.

Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune) Salt Lake Comic Con cofounders-producers Dan Farr, left, and Brian Brandenburg

Utah authors ask FanX to address multiple ‘breaches of trust’ and unite against sexual harassment

By Rachel Piper | May 26, 2018, 2:26 a.m.

( Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune ) Salt Lake Comic Con co-founders Dan Farr and Bryan Brandenburg with a replica of Han Solo sealed in carbonite in their South Salt Lake office Friday, September 18, 2015.

To ‘dispel the negative energy’ of sexual-harassment controversy, FanX co-founder Bryan Brandenburg is taking a leave of absence

By Sean P. Means | Rachel Piper | May 25, 2018, 3:53 a.m.

Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Dan Farr and Bryan Brandenburg of FanX, Salt Lake Comic Con.

A popular Utah author criticized FanX’s response to harassment complaints. It told her to ‘sit this one out’ and published her private email.

By Rachel Piper | Sean P. Means | May 23, 2018, 2:13 p.m.

(Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File) In this July 11, 2015 file photo, James Dashner, author of "Maze Runner" attends the 20th Century Fox press line at Comic-Con International in San Diego. Dashner has been dropped by his literary agent. In recent days, Dashner has faced allegations of sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment allegations against ‘Maze Runner’ author James Dashner set off ‘earthquake’ in Utah writing community

By Rachel Piper | February 16, 2018, 1:25 a.m.

(Francisco Kjolseth | Tribune file photo) Best-selling Utah author Ally Condie

At Utah writing camp, teens will workshop stories with their favorite authors

By Rachel Piper | August 3, 2017, 5:27 a.m.

Utah author’s ‘The Hundredth Queen’ is the start of a fast-paced YA romantic fantasy

By Rachel Piper | October 17, 2017, 6:35 p.m.