From media to education, new BYU-I president out to make positive impact


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SALT LAKE CITY — Clark Gilbert is settling into his new job as president of BYU-Idaho. But before he went north, he played a key role in keeping the Deseret News from “going south" and out of business.

When Gilbert came to Deseret Digital Media in 2009, the media company faced lots of challenges in the emerging digital world.

“When we first came, the paper was in trouble financially. But it also didn’t have as clear a voice as many of us thought it could have,” Gilbert said.

As CEO, he used the old Deseret News mantra “Always Pioneering” to turn things around. Six years later, the paper is an industry leader.

“We’ve had the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Dallas Morning News, Boston Globe — almost every major media company in the country has come to Salt Lake to study that model of transformation,” Gilbert said.

As a doctorate student at Harvard University, Gilbert studied newspapers and the Internet.

“Someone said, ‘Did you come here so you could test those theories?’ And this person was a good journalist on most accounts. And I said, ‘No. I came here because I felt, spiritually, this is where I am supposed to come,’” he said. “And I believe there is a gap in the way news organizations cover faith and family.”

Gilbert believes a lot of people want to hear more about faith, and that belief shaped how his team transformed the Deseret News.

“We really said we are going to focus on the same areas of emphases that matter to our audience and really resonate — and not just in Utah, but all around the country,” he said.

Along with faith and family, the Deseret News also focuses on excellence in education, values in media and culture, causes related to helping the poor and financial responsibility.


The Deseret News has really tried to be a thoughtful and rigorous voice on these issues, but do it in a way that is really different than any other news media. And we've seen growth in our print circulation.

–Clark Gilbert


“The Deseret News has really tried to be a thoughtful and rigorous voice on these issues, but do it in a way that is really different than any other news media. And we’ve seen growth in our print circulation … We launched the national edition of the Deseret News.”

The Deseret News website is now consistently one of the top 25 newspaper websites in the country, and the content is syndicated all around the country. Collectively, Deseret Digital Media brands reach more than 20 million people every month.

As he moves on to a new adventure, Gilbert says “there is a lot left to do” but he trusts the “great people” at the Deseret News to get it done.

Meanwhile, he and his family are excited about his next career move.

“It is really exciting and inspiring. Like media, education is a field where you can have an impact for good,” Gilbert said.

The job as university president takes him back to a school and community his family already loves. Prior to being named CEO of Deseret Digital Media, Gilbert served as an associate academic vice president at BYU-Idaho.

Then and now, students are his focus.

“I want (parents) to know I love their children already, and they are sending their children to a place where they have a faculty who loves and is interested in them,” Gilbert said.

Like he did at the Deseret News, Gilbert will continue to look for ways to use technology to improve lives.

“I think one of the things that is incumbent upon all of us, no matter what our faith is or where we live, is to use these new technologies to bring light and goodness to the world,” he said.

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