Peggy Fletcher Stack is the Religion Reporter for The Salt Lake Tribune. My opinion of her is the intent of this posting.
Also, I'm using Mormonism in its cultural sense here. She covers all religions, not just The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
What is The Salt Lake Tribune?
The Salt Lake Tribune is the devilish counterpart to the Lord's newspaper, the Deseret News.
The two papers haven't exactly fought head-to-head. In fact, there has been a great deal of cooperation between them that is now ending.
The Tribune has been in existence almost as long as the News but with significant differences.
I think the Tribune can be distinguished by two things:
- It's stories usually have a negative slant on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- As a paper, it's always on the verge of going under. (Read about its latest metamorphosis.)
- I started receiving email adverts from the Tribune, especially about new reporters joining the paper.
- One slightly bizarre young man talked about joining people engaged in demonstrations/protests, etc., walking with them and sharing their stories.
I have no respect for demonstrations, protests, rallies, and what not or the people that participate in them. These mechanisms are negative tools of democracy rather than the positive tools I endorse.
Every advert I received had an identifiable liberal slant as well. Unlike most people, I can tell the difference.
I have a Ph.D. in Public Administration and Public Affairs and I've been a professor and taught government.
I know all the in's and out's of liberal, conservative, everything in-between, and everything on the edge as well.
I was feeling a bit warm toward the Salt Lake Tribune until I got these ridiculous adverts. I even considered sending them a small donation.
No more.
Maybe this was why Jennifer Napier-Pearce jumped ship?
Who is Rita Skeeter?
Rita Skeeter is a reporter for the Daily Prophet in the Harry Potter books. The Prophet is read by most of the wizarding world.
She writes outrageous articles and poison-pen biographies, hiding behind the assertion that people deserve to hear the truth, or at least her version of it.
She deceives and manipulates people, even resorting to outright illegal acts by not registering as an Animagus. This allows her to get her scoops.
After she publishes a scorching piece about Dumbledore, he declares her/it to be "enchantingly nasty."
Dumbledore bans her from the Hogwarts campus but she somehow is able to penetrate its environs by transforming into a beetle.
However, since she's alienated so many people, the only ones left that will talk to her or give her quotes are the Slytherins. Naturally, her articles reflect their bias.
Hermione eventually unmasks her and muzzles her, by entrapping her and threatening to expose her for exactly what she is and how she does it.
Her work sells papers, no question about that.
What I think Stack does
Stack has been writing for the Tribune for a long time. I consider her and her work to be enchantingly nasty as well.
I've read multiple Utah news sources ever since I was 14. I still do even though I've not lived in Utah for years. Digital resources make doing this very easy.
It appears to me that Stack interviews only Mormon Slytherins. She also has to keep moving on because she skewers them.
People who can intelligently and accurately commentate won't talk to her anymore.
I can tell all this because I know the backstories of people she quotes.
Stack does win reporting awards
I think Stack obviously sells papers and I know she wins awards, prestigious ones.
However, there is a problem here.
It's like Muggles giving Skeeter awards for her wizarding articles. Muggles don't understand the wizarding world even if they know of its existence.
I think these people and organizations do not understand all the nuances of the Mormon world or its people and cannot comprehend the inaccuracies and problems in Stack's work.
We have our own language, beliefs, practices, and culture. Some of our words and terms mean different things to us than the rest of the world. Ordinary mortals don't understand any of this.
You have to have existed deep in the Mormon world to grasp any or all of this which apparently Stack does, or did?
She seems to be a good writer and she's certainly prolific. I can't quibble with any of this.
Boilerplate apostasy
I think she spins stories into themes she wants and has an inordinate preoccupation with the September 6 and Kate Kelly.
In my humble opinion, these issues were never more than boilerplate apostasy. Stack seemed to want to spin them into a great deal more.
The people who are not members of the organizations' Stack covers don't seem to grasp Stack's skews. They seem to think we get upset because she's accurately reporting and exposing us. In other words, they seem to react as if she's doing a good job as a reporter.
I think she's a very biased reporter with her own agenda.
Conclusion
Perhaps when Stack's career, or life, is over, she'll sink back into the obscurity I think she deserves.
That's exactly what Little Miss Perfect wants.
I don't like Skeeter's work, or Stack's. I have no special place in my heart for either of them.
I hope I can be forgiven ...
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