Anderson insists that the Morning News opinion pages take marching orders from the church, at least, "they used to — until the lawsuit" by former owners of the Tribune contending the News conspired with the Tribune's new owners in the takeover of that newspaper.

Hughes, who is the first non-Mormon to become Morning News editor, said, "I have never by any church official been asked to run a story, not run a story or skew a story."

However, he said in his early years, the editorial editors would fax over to the church offices copies of its house editorials — but said he received few comments on them. "It's absolutely true that at some stage during the legal fracas, we got word from over there: 'Don't bother to send the editorials over.' So for several years, the editorials have not gone over. There has been no interference on the news side," Hughes said.

Final analysis

Richard Davis, a political science professor at Brigham Young University who has a research specialty in media and politics, says it is unusual — but not unique — for a local politician to have a relationship as combative with the press as does Anderson.

"What's the old saying, never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel?" he says. He adds that the vast majority of the nation's local politicians follow that rule, at least usually.

"It is true that there are other examples of mayors who have tumultuous relationships with local press. Ed Koch, the former mayor of New York, was sort of like Rocky. Everything was personal, and he had a pretty thin skin and was not willing to take criticism from press — and was quite willing to tell them," Davis says.

He adds, "Most politicians expect to get some bad reporting to some extent. If the mayor is trying to correct all of these all the time, it is more than just correction. It is clearly seeking a spin that is positive in his direction."

But Deeda Seed, Anderson's current communications director, sees Anderson's fights with the press as a result of passionate people acting with vigor.

"When people are passionate about their work, it shows. John Hughes is passionate about putting out a good newspaper. Rocky is passionate about having a good city. When those two things come in conflict, there is a great clash," she says.

Diane Urbani, who covered Anderson for the Morning News but now works in Tacoma, Wash., says, "The thing is, Rocky likes all the media attention. He just wants to control it." She adds, "Rocky has that messianic zeal — not just for remaking the culture of Salt Lake City, but also for showing everybody in Utah his idea of enlightened leadership."

Trouble is, the media often see their job as looking critically at him, his zeal and his work. So the mayor continually returns the favor.

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E-mail: lee@desnews.com