As news coverage of Jon Krakauer's "Under the Banner of Heaven" shifts from book reviewers to the religion reporters of the most prominent publications in the country, both Krakauer and public relations officers for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are working to ensure their voices are heard.

Krakauer, who has appeared on the "Today Show" as well as in several national publications, has defended both his book and the research that went into it.

Malcolm Jones, in a two-page review for Newsweek, called the book "scrupulously reported" and said it was "invaluable" and "very frightening."

The book has also received favorable reviews in such media outlets as Time magazine and The New York Times. The favorable reviews for the book, however, have been seen by church media liaisons as detrimental to the church's image.

Church public relations officers, working to counteract the negative coverage, have responded to Krakauer's claims by submitting an op-ed piece to The Salt Lake Tribune and launching an extensive information campaign.

Mike Otterson, director of media relations for the church, wrote a lengthy criticism of the book for the Tribune in which he calls Krakauer's book "a full-frontal assault on the veracity of the modern church."

"This book is not history, and Krakauer is no historian," Otterson said. "He finds sufficient zealots and extremists in the past 150 years to help him tell his story, and by extrapolation tars every Mormon with the same brush."

On June 27, two weeks before the book's release, a five-page critique by Richard Turley was available on the church's Web site at www.lds.org. Turley, managing director of the LDS Family and Church History Department, calls the book "a condemnation of religion generally."

Church spokeswoman Kim Farah, who visited BYU Friday to deliver a presentation to communications students, said Krakauer never spoke to church officials or spokespeople during his research for the book and failed to ask for the church's position on the issues he was writing about.



Copyright Brigham Young University 20 Jul 2003