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Northern Utahns will get more local news in pioneering partnership, Gustus writes

The Salt Lake Tribune and Utah Public Radio will jointly welcome Logan-based journalist.

(Jesse Walker) The Tribune's Tim Fitzpatrick, a Utah State University graduate, speaks during a fundraiser for Utah Public Radio and The Tribune in Logan on Aug. 14, 2022. UPR co-manager Kerry Bringhurst looks on.

In a pioneering collaboration, Utah Public Radio and The Salt Lake Tribune will work together to elevate reporting from northern Utah.

The nonprofit news organizations will jointly welcome an audio and digital journalist, who will live in Cache Valley and work out of UPR’s newsroom, in the months to come.

“We are excited about this unique nonprofit news partnership and look forward to expanding access to local news while strengthening support for quality journalism,” Kerry Bringhurst, co-manager of Utah Public Radio, told me.

Reporting will be published across platforms, reaching listeners by audio, and readers on both digital platforms and in The Tribune’s printed paper.

This reporting position is fully supported by philanthropy, and we’re funded for one year. You can support this partnership by clicking here to make a donation.

(Jesse Walker) Tribune cartoonist Pat Bagley engages in a Q&A during a fundraiser for a northern Utah reporter in Logan on Aug. 14, 2022.

We know that in areas where there is less local news, residents are less informed. And communities with less local news end up with a more dysfunctional political system, which makes it harder to solve local problems.

Topically, how northern Utah is growing will be an area of significant emphasis for this reporter. They will also focus on water availability, transportation, Utah State University and local politics, as they are all important issues in the changing region.

We expect this journalist to share challenges and opportunities for the valley, through accountability, high-utility and explanatory reporting.

As always, we will look to put the reader or listener at the center of our storytelling process.

Journalism produced in this partnership will be made available post-publication to any Utah news organizations that wish to publish it, through the Utah News Collaborative.