The only time I met Deseret News Editor
Joe Cannon, we were attending a lecture
by author Victor Davis Hanson. Hanson
spoke passionately about how Americans
must protect and cherish the core values
of the Greek heritage—more correctly, the
Hellenic heritage—such as democratic service,
love of the arts, and free expression.
As an expert historian of the Peloponnesian
War and the fall of Athens, Hanson also
spoke of war then and now. I think Cannon
was there because Hanson, like Cannon, is
regarded as a neocon.
As such, both men validate war because
they believe the virtues of a democratic society
comprise a worthy reason for taking up
arms. When the lecture ended, I collected
an autographed book from Hanson (I like
his books on Greece, less so his viewpoints
on America) and a handshake commitment
from Cannon that we’d meet for lunch. The
next day, I sent him an e-mail that he never
responded to. My feelings weren’t hurt.
I’m sure he’s far busier than I, trying to
preserve his daily newspaper. I’m sure he’s
also busy figuring out new ways to attract a
stronger LDS readership, a tact I happen to
think is the right one for the Deseret News.
Even though Cannon’s Mormon Times is
about as preachy, corny and condescending
to many non-Mormons as it gets, reads like
a Sunday sermon on training wheels and
has zero relevance to my life, I understand
his intent. He wants to give voice to, market,
sell and profit by Mormonism. I have
no issue with him mining the vein of LDS
virtues—like chastity, for instance.
So, imagine my surprise when I found this little pocket rocket on the Deseret News Twitter site. For those of you
with Twitter accounts, and assuming you’re
reading this before the Deseret News blocks
little Eva (if they do), what you’ll see is page
11 of the Deseret News’ list of people it follows
on Twitter. Scroll down the list until you
come to @BYU177. Between that person and
@BYUBroadcasting, you’ll find @evaporn.
Click on her link and you’ll get an eyeful
worthy of Larry Flynt. You can see her Twitter
Tweets, too, none of which I want to copy and
paste into this family publication. Besides, as
long as I don’t reprint them, I can continue to
make the claim I write better than a pimp.
Yeah, yeah, I know: On Twitter, it’s easy to
follow something or someone unsavory. I, too,
have clicked on someone following me, only
to find that person’s “nice view of a Cancun
beach” link includes a potpourri of graphic
sexual come-ons, photographs and offers.
I can either choose to follow that tweeter
back—making him or her available for view
to anyone viewing
my Twitter account—ignore them, or block
them. For some reason,
someone at the Deseret
News decided to follow
@evaporn, and anyone
scrolling through the
Deseret News Twitter
site can find her. Other
upstanding Deseret
News Twitter fans
like @MsPrim1 and
@AddtoFaith can’t be
too pleased.
I’m no prude. City
Weekly may follow some dubious sorts, too.
But, if and when people want porn, they
want it on their terms, not when they’re
expecting to be among folks more inclined
to give solemn testimonials instead of sexual
ones. Finding @evaporn’s lipstick on
moralist Joe Cannon’s lapel is a jarring
juxtaposition but not entirely surprising.
It reminds me of something that occurred
about 20 years ago between this newspaper
and the Deseret News.
In the late 1980s, this paper began publishing
same-sex personals. I can still hear
the uproar, and I can still hear my standard
retort—“Hey, jackass: Get off my back. Many
of those ads originate in Utah County, so you
figure out what’s going on, OK?” As well, this
paper had no policy regarding 1-900 ads,
generically known as phone-sex ads. The
ads were graphic, and the messages inside
them were, too. It wasn’t my shining moment
in publishing. I was embarrassed by them,
yet felt an obligation to honor them as legal
businesses by printing their ads. In time,
embarrassment won. Our policy changed.
Some advertisers left us, others toned down—though you’re welcome to disagree.
People were complaining all the time,
booting us from distribution points, calling
for boycotts and all that. I took each and
every nasty phone call. Those ads became—and remain—a stickler, a line in the sand. I
don’t believe this or any newspaper should
be the community hall monitor (and I ask,
why do people expect that of newspapers,
but not the Internet?).
The more people who
complained, the more
obvious it became that
those doing the complaining
weren’t just
complaining about the
sex ads; they didn’t like
this paper, period. They
thought all the news they
needed landed on their
porch every afternoon,
and that this paper was
blasphemous and evil.
With each complaint,
I repeated the same message,
which was, “Do you read the Deseret
News? Yes? Great. Now, why don’t you call
them and ask them to take out their own
sex ads? That’s right—the Deseret News runs
them, but without the pictures. Does that
make you feel better?”
The answer was always no. I usually got
an apology. One day, a nice woman called
me back and thanked me. She did complain
to the Deseret News, and they quit taking
sex ads. They took the money while they
could, though, and let this paper take the
heat. Now, it’s now again. Mistake or not, as
long as the Deseret News pretends to relish
the role of Utah’s moral compass, it cannot
also pretend that following @evaporn
points to true north. Say it ain’t so, Joe.
Oh, BTW…. Happy 25th birthday, City
Weekly.
Update: As of late evening Wednesday, June 3, the Deseret News no longer follows @evaporn on Twitter. No, really—you're welcome, Joe. Enough with the gushing credit and thanks already. Now just keep it clean, OK pardner?
