Editor’s note: This city profile is part of a larger project in which Daily Universe reporters traveled across Utah and Wyoming to investigate the state of local newspapers.
City: Magna
Population: 26,505
Newspaper: Magna Times, which is no longer operating
History: A small population of pioneers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints settled in Magna in 1851. The city teemed with agriculture and recently settled farmers and by 1900, 20 different families had made the area their home. The city gradually turned away from its agricultural roots and developed industrially with increased copper mining in the bordering Oquirrh Mountains. Although originally called Pleasant Green, city officials officially changed the community’s name to Magna in 1906. The town is small but growing gradually and is nestled in Salt Lake County.
Economy: According to Sperling’s Best Places, Magna has a slow economy. The Median household income of a Magna resident is $56,011 a year.
Newspaper: The Magna Times folded in September 2018 after 96 years of operation. Editor Emily Gould last posted on the newspaper’s Facebook page Sept. 10. She wrote that when she agreed to take over the Magna Times, she wasn’t fully aware of the issues and situations surrounding it. For this reason, getting the paper’s registration and licensing switched to her name wasn’t working. “Over the past several months my focus has been on straightening things out behind the scenes so that I can restore this paper to hopefully once again be the staple it was in this community,” Gould wrote. “It is a decision that I have fought against for weeks now, but I need to do what is best for the paper in the long run.”
