Deseret Editor: Attending Closed Conference Was 'A Mistake'

By: Joe Strupp A week after his appearance at a conservative policy conference that barred media coverage raised objections, including from his own staff, Editor Joe Cannon of the Deseret Morning News admitted that he made a mistake in attending the event and would not do it again.

?The benefit of attending, in my mind, didn?t justify the cost to the people at the paper,? Cannon told E&P Sunday night. ?There were some people in our newsroom who justifiably were concerned. I have caused some pain to people at the paper and may have even injured the reputation of the paper. I made a mistake.?

That mistake, he contends, was attending the Council for National Policy conference in Salt Lake City nine days ago. The event included the likes of Vice President Dick Cheney and Gov. Mitt Romney. The conference came under fire for disallowing media outlets from covering its events, which included speeches by Romney and Cheney, as well as a presentation by Cannon.

The rival Salt Lake Tribune in its coverage questioned Cannon's decision to attend the event, declaring in one story, "Though Cannon is a former lobbyist and brother of Congressman Chris Cannon, his attendance in his new role as a journalist at the meeting closed to news media sends up red flags, ethicists say.?

Other media criticism followed and when reached by E&P early last week, Cannon stood by his choice, declaring he would do it again. But, on Sunday, he told E&P he had changed his mind after meeting with staffers. He said he had spoke to several Deseret News veterans who relayed their concerns that Cannon?s participation in such a closed event sent the wrong signal.

At last Thursday?s daily news meeting, Cannon said he offered his apologies for the incident and said he was still learning on the job.

?I sat down with editors at the news meeting and I said that after talking to people, and time passed and upon reflection I wanted to be as positive as I could be with our own news people,? he said. ?I am still in Journalism 101 sometimes. Sometimes I ask them to explain some technical things. I felt bad and I went to them.?

Cannon, who became Morning News editor in December 2006, had no previous journalism experience, but has had a long history with the Republican party as a supporter and party leader.

?I was not reacting to the Tribune,? he stressed about his latest contrition. ?I just felt that after talking to lots of people I wanted to get the elephant out of the room. I wanted to make sure people at the newspaper understood.?

Cannon, a longtime Morning News board director and member of the LDS church that owns the newspaper, said he never even sought the editor?s post, but accepted it after the board approached him. ?I actually proposed someone else to be editor first,? he said, declining to name the person. ?It has never been public, but it was a serious person.?

As for the future, Cannon said he does not plan to leave his position and does not believe this will hurt him or the paper. ?I think from my perspective, it is behind me. I have to live with it. I believe by being as forthcoming as I can, that?s helped the people at the paper.

?I don?t feel ashamed to be editor at all,? he added. ?I made a mistake, but it was not a mistake of wanting to hurt the paper.?