Church News

[9] Instead, the section is financially supported by the rest of the Deseret News operations,[10] and high volume subscriptions.

[15] The paper isn't intended to cover controversial issues, but emphasizes success stories and reinforces the church message.

[16] Though it experimented with some "hard news" in the early 1970s,[17] the paper has always stayed with its successful, uplifting formula and remained reverential toward church leaders.

[16] Some have nicknamed the paper "Mormon Pravda,"[18] because of its dedication to promoting faith, which others see as producing soft "human interest" stories.

[20] Its global focus has expanded as the paper attempts to showcase the church's international activities.

In the 1890s, efforts to emphasize secular news pushed church coverage to dedicated sections on inside pages.

In 1945, when Liahona The Elders' Journal (an LDS publication based in Independence, Missouri aimed at members and missionaries in the eastern and central United States) ended publication, it recommended that its subscribers began taking the Church News.

[31] Gradually, more graphics and colors were used and regular features were added, such as editorials, "Gems of Thought," "The Missionary's Diary," "I Want to Know," and short historical or scriptural vignettes.

[33] In 1948, these moved to the back page,[31] where they remained until Petersen died in 1984 and they were replaced by staff-written "Viewpoints."

[47][48] With access to records and the LDS Church Historical Department,[47] the almanac presented some material that was not available in other publications.

[52] Each annual edition included features on a specific historical subject or period, often related to a church current event, such as the rebuilding of the Nauvoo Temple, the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics,[53] Joseph Smith's bicentennial birthday, the Mountain Meadows massacre sesquicentennial,[50] or Gordon B. Hinckley's death.

[51] In 2009, the almanac consolidated and modified most sections to improve design and dramatically reduce size.

With no further editions planned, the almanac has ostensibly been discontinued, though the Deseret News has not formally commented on the matter.