By EMILY SMURTHWAITE
smurthwaite@du2.byu.edu
When Joseph Smith was martyred in 1844, newspaper reporters predicted the LDS faith would end with the death of its prophet.
Yet Joseph Smith's obituary wasn't the last story about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- it was more likely one of the first.
Richard O. Cowan, professor of church history and doctrine, said the attention given to the church by the media was generally negative in the early decades.
Cowan, who did his doctoral dissertation on the image of the church in national periodicals, said he thought the journalists were negative about Joseph Smith's death because they might have regarded the church as a cult that followed Smith and not his teachings.
Despite cynical beginnings, the LDS church's relationship with the media has improved.
Bruce Olsen, director of public affairs for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said he thinks the Church generally gets good media coverage.
One reason the LDS Church has been represented well is because of President Hinckley. His education, training, background and personality have helped media relations, Olsen said.
'I have no doubt that Gordon B. Hinckley has had a dramatic impact on how the church is seen in world,' Olsen said.
Olsen said President Hinckley connects well with journalists.
'When President Hinckley talks to news people, he never has to mention that he majored in journalism ... they somehow feel that he is one of their own,' Olsen said. 'And he speaks in sound bytes just naturally. He knows how to do that so well. He's so quotable.'
The sesquicentennial of the LDS pioneers in 199 was one church sponsored event which drew heavy media attention.
'We received marvelous coverage from this country and all over the world,' Olsen said.
He said the sesquicentennial celebration coverage followed a pattern. Once the New York Times and Newsweek covered the sesquicentennial celebration and trek, other media across the United States caught on to the story and coverage began to grow.
When the Olympics come to Salt Lake City in 2002, the LDS Church will be in the media spotlight once again.
During the Olympics, the media zero in on the history and the culture of the area.
'In our case that happens to be the history and culture of the church. ... It's an unparalleled opportunity for us to tell our story in a positive way,' Olsen said.
As the church grows, the interest and pressure on the church will also grow, Olsen said.
'There's a lot of public relations to do. The church is going to continue to grow and expand and that will have greater demands on the church in every way,' he said.
John Hughes, editor and chief operating officer of the Deseret News, said it hasn't been a problem to write objectively about the church, even though the church owns the newspaper.
Hughes said he thinks the media outside of Utah is understanding the LDS Church better because of the magazine stories and the nationally broadcast interviews with President Hinckley.
'I think that the church, which once was not well understood, has become much more mainstream and is much better understood,' Hughes said.
He also believes the Olympics will bring good media coverage to the church.
'(There's going to be) about 15,000 reporters coming to Salt Lake City, and they will be looking for things to write about as well as the Olympics and I'm sure they will write about the church,' Hughes said.
He said the cautiousness the church has had in dealing with the press is changing, due to President Hinckley's direction.
'(President Hinckley) seems to be one of the world's leading experts on media. He is extremely knowledgeable about media and understands media. I think he has been much more open in dealing with the press,' Hughes said.
Carri Jenkins, the director of media communications for BYU, said she thinks the media have represented the university really well. She said the faculty and student accomplishments and projects have a great influence on how the world perceives BYU.
'People's perceptions are very much built by what they hear and what they see and what they read,' Jenkins said.
With all the different means of communication available, Jenkins said it is an exciting time to be at BYU and tell the school's story.
'(The Internet) is changing how we do things in public relations. ... We are able to provide more, we're able to provide better information, we're able to do it quicker,' she said.