A top strategist to President Ronald Reagan and an executive of the Sinclair Cos. have been appointed to the board of directors of the Deseret Morning News.

On Wednesday, Richard Wirthlin, 75, the founder of WirthlinWorldwide, and Clint Ensign, 51, senior vice president of government relations to the Sinclair Cos., were named new members of the board.

Wirthlin and Ensign replace outgoing board members L. Glen Snarr, who has served on the board for 29 years, including nine as chairman, and Joseph A. Cannon, who is now the editor of the Morning News.

"The appointment of these two members of the board is with the hope to increase the circulation and the readership of this newspaper," said Ellis R. Ivory, chairman of the board. "The combined circulation of the Deseret Morning News and the Salt Lake Tribune, which operate together under a joint operating agreement, has not kept pace with the increase of the population of our state. We believe that there is a great market for our paper to increase."

Wirthlin is perhaps best known for his work as the chief strategist behind Reagan's two sweeping presidential victories, in 1980 and 1984. During the Reagan administration, Wirthlin met with the president weekly, conveying political and public affairs sentiment.

For the past three decades Wirthlin has focused on marketing and politics. His work extended beyond the political arena, where he developed communications strategies for Fortune 500 companies.

Wirthlin earned a doctorate at the University of California at Berkeley. He taught economics at Berkeley, the University of California Medical School and Brigham Young University, where he served as department chairman.

Since 1984, Ensign has worked for the Sinclair Cos., a Salt Lake-based parent entity for the petroleum, hotel, resort and ranching interests of the R. Earl Holding family.

Ensign was responsible for representing Sinclair before Congress. He earned a master's of business administration degree from the University of Utah and a bachelor's degree in finance from BYU. He also has done graduate work at Georgetown University and at Bowling Green University.

Both men agree that the circulation and readership numbers of the Morning News can be improved.

Ensign said he brings to the board vast experience in business and in government affairs.

"I've had a chance to work for extraordinary entrepreneurs in Earl and Carol Holding," Ensign said. "I hope that background can help with the oversight and management of the paper."

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E-mail: danderton@desnews.com