In an effort to provide a valuable online resource to millions of readers around the world, the Deseret Morning News has launched MormonTimes.com, a new Web site specifically for and about members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Web site can be accessed at www.mormontimes.com.

"Throughout the history of the Deseret News, the vast majority of our readers have been members of the LDS Church," said Joseph A. Cannon, editor of the Deseret Morning News. "MormonTimes.com gives us the opportunity to utilize the resources of the Deseret News to reach out to our LDS audience in very specific and, we believe, very meaningful ways."

And not just regular Deseret Morning News readers, Cannon observed.

"There are more than 13 million members of the LDS Church worldwide," he said. "They are also interested in receiving more information for and about their church, and we believe we are uniquely qualified to provide that news and information for them."

According to Cannon, MormonTimes.com will include unique features and stories created by Deseret Morning News staff members. It also will point readers to the best LDS news and information being created on other Web sites around the world. And it will feature opportunities for readers to share their experiences, testimonies and opinions through a variety of reader participation activities.

"The Deseret News is a great general-interest newspaper, and it will continue to be," Cannon said. "We remain committed to providing our readers with the best hard news and feature coverage of world events, local issues, politics, business and sports. But MormonTimes.com, and its sister publication, the weekly Mormon Times newspaper supplement, allow us to utilize our unique news-gathering and presentation technology to provide a large number of our readers with a resource that will be useful and important to them."

The Deseret Morning News will also continue to publish the weekly LDS Church News supplement, which is an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"MormonTimes.com will provide a daily — sometimes hourly — view of what it means to be a Latter-day Saint in today's ever-changing modern world. We think there is a need for both publications to serve the growing membership of a worldwide church, and we are happy to be able to provide them both," Cannon said.

"We encourage readers to wander around the Web site and send us any thoughts and suggestions."

For more information, please contact MormonTimes.com editor Joseph Walker, via e-mail at jwalker@desnews.com, or at 801-333-7450.