Editorial Adjustment   

The Salt Lake Tribune's new editorial page editor, Vern Anderson, expects the paper to take a more moderate stance under Publisher William Dean Singleton.

Salt Lake Tribune Publisher William Dean Singleton chooses former Deputy Editor Vern Anderson as the paper's new editorial page editor. He replaces Randy Frisch, who lost his job when Singleton's MediaNews Group took control in August (see Bylines, September). "It's an incredibly newsy state," says Anderson, 53, who has spent most of his life in Utah, including 23 years working at the Associated Press' Salt Lake City bureau, where he covered the Mormon Church, "probably the most influential body in the state." "Some would say a lot of quirky stories come out of Utah, and that really isn't surprising, given that there is a great cultural divide in this state" between Mormons and non-Mormans, Anderson says. He thinks the Tribune's editorial page "will be much more moderate than it has been in recent years." One of the first things Singleton did after naming himself publisher, says Anderson, laughing, was to "get the New York Times service and put [Maureen] Dowd and [Thomas L.] Friedman on the editorial page. He did that before I was ever asked to do the job."