about UtahStories.com

About Utah Stories

sponsorship opportunities contributor opportunities

Utah Stories.com is maintained by Richard Markosian. For the past seven years I've had my own busines as a multi-media producer/coder Markosian Media. Prior to self-employment I worked as an Art Director for Allen Communication Learning Services. After six great years of this, followed by one year of cubicle drudgery and extreme boredom (due to lack of accounts) I decided I had enough of the coporate cushy life. I enrolled full-time the University of Utah to study documentary filmmaking and journalism. After graduating, I can't say that my degree opened up a lot of doors. The problem became that I could spend 12 hours writing a freelance story and earn the same amount I could from two hours of writing code. As much as I enjoyed journalism, I enjoyed being able to pay my mortgage even more.

Therefore, since graduating from the University of Utah, I've spent my days mostly coding. This consists of using for-loops, if-statements, and language syntax to find the most elegant solutions for solving program problems. This life has its benfits, I'm not bothered by office politics or gossip. I am my own sovereignty authority (under the rule of my wife of course). However, I was neglecting the reason I received my degree: to attempt to observe, film and write about real-world issues. The interplay of power, culture and values in shaping our democratic society is the most facinating study of all for me.

Utah Stories Goals

Objective and Civil Journalism

The goal for Utah Stories is to become a forum for civil debate and journalism, always attempting to represent both sidees of every issue equally and objectively. Our type of coverage includes reports on the cutting edge of socital trends and the changing urban landscape in Salt Lake City. Our complete story listing can be found here

Reporting on Local Matters that really matter

Below are two Utah Story articles that relate the need for strong independent voices to examine government policy and how Utah Stories and other independent Internet news sites and bloggers can fill the niche that the main stream media neglects.

How Our Stories Are Different

Although I now have a partnership to have my stories aired (in ultra-short format) on KJZZ, my goal isn't to use this site to provide just another independent blog or news site. I chose to study documentary film rather than broadcast journalism because the usual superficial treatment of broadcast news, provides little in the way of finding truth or understanding complex issues. As a film maker my method is to allow stories to unfold like a tapistry-- revealing the weave and pattern by examining facts, opinions, power and behavoir, hopefully to reveal truth. Thats what you will find on Utah Stories, but I can't do this on my own. Debuggers wanted!

Current Commitment

Currently I'm focusing about half time on making Utah Stories a reality. This site is still not officially launched. We will "officially launch" the site if I reach my goal of 2000 unique visitors every week. We have had a few weeks where this goal has been attained but not consistantly. Once the site becomes viable I will solicit local advertising acounts and hire reporters and writers to help debug society and report on the changing urban landscape of Utah. Until then, I'm mostly on my own (with reporting), with the great help from all the people you see as contributors of knowledge and insight who are listed below.

Utah Stories Most Active Contributors

Also thanks to many active citizens I've interviewed and spoken to at Planning Commision meetings, City Council Meetings and on Capitol Hill. The local merchants on Main Street have also been a great benefit in finding answers to downtown Salt Lake City questions.

You can support Utah Stories by becoming a member of our team. We are now accepting stories in video, essay or photojournalistic formats. We will not publish stories that are rants. Please back up claims with facts. Please be logical and follow good writing and film making practice (beginning-thesis, middle, end). Our goal is to make more people into independent journalists and freelance content providers. And our ultimate goal is to see that hard work, reasearch and backbone are rewarded financially. In several months our compensation system will be up and running, in the meantime contact rmarkosian@gmail.com> if you have a great story idea or investigations or research work you would like to post on Utah Stories.

Sponsorship benefits:

  • Focus your advertising to Salt Lake City and Sugar House residents.
  • Pay on an impression basis
  • Become a sponsor of Utah's fastest growing independent news site.
  • Monthly adspace available starting at just $100

Studies have shown that new media and web-based advertising is more effective that conventional ads because your business has the power of knowing how many see your advertisement and where they are geographically located. Payments can be arranged on on an impression basis; this means unlike print ads you only pay for the people who see your ads. If you would like to advertise on our site and become an official sponsor of Utah's newest locally devoted news and investigative journalism site. (more on this)

 

For more information on either sponsorship or contributor opportunities contact Richard at rmarkosian@gmail.com.

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