Her coverage, especially of Utah’s predominant faith, leads the nation.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Tribune senior religion reporter Peggy Fletcher Stack has won the top prize for excellence in religion reporting for midsize and small newspapers from the Religion News Association.
| April 26, 2024, 6:46 p.m.
| Updated: 6:49 p.m.
After earning a lifetime achievement award last year for her religion reporting, The Salt Lake Tribune’s Peggy Fletcher Stack insisted she wasn’t “done yet.”
And she proved it.
The Religion News Association recently named Stack the nation’s top religion reporter for midsize and small newspapers, marking the sixth time she has attained that annual distinction.
She was honored for stories in 2023 ranging from the mental health challenges faced by Latter-day Saint missionaries to the role sex plays in Mormonism’s theology of the afterlife.
Stack also explored why so many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints fall prey to Ponzi schemes and exposed how a Brigham Young University professor was bullied.
In addition, The Tribune’s senior religion reporter examined how asexual Latter-day Saints fit in a faith that views marital sex as holy, divine and celestial, and teamed up with water reporter Leia Larsen to dive into how Utah’s predominant faith could help fend off an environmental apocalypse by preserving the Great Salt Lake. The church later announced significant conservation efforts to improve the imperiled body of water.
Stack, co-host of the popular “Mormon Land” podcast, previously claimed the top Religion News Association prize for midsize papers in 2004, 2012, 2017 and 2018, along with the 2022 honor for midsize and small papers.
Last year, she received the group’s William A. Reed Lifetime Achievement Award, and her Tribune religion reporting colleague, Tamarra Kemsley, took second place in the contest for midsize and small newspapers.
