Deseret Digital Media, Inc. (DDM) is a subsidiary company of

Deseret Management Corporation Deseret Management Corporation (DMC) () is an American operating company, managing select global, for-profit entities affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It was established in 1966 by church president D ...

(DMC), an American

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

owned by

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(LDS Church). DDM owns digital assets, primarily focused on the Utah news and classifieds sit
KSL.com
and tourism sit
Utah.com
The company's first CEO, Clark Gilbert, served from DDM's founding in 2009 until 2015 when he was named president of BYU-Idaho. Gilbert later became an LDS Church general authority and as of 2024 continues to serve as the commissioner of the

Church Educational System The Church Educational System (CES) of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) consists of several institutions that provide religious and secular education for both Latter-day Saint and non–Latter-day Saint elementary, sec ...

. Greg Peterson was DDM's president from 2016 to 2021. As of 2024, the president is Nate Hatch, a former Assistant Vice President of Technology at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

DDM was formed in 2009 to run the website operations of DMC. Since then,

Deseret News The ''Deseret News'' () is a multi-platform newspaper based in Salt Lake City, published by Deseret News Publishing Company, a subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation, which is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS ...

has resumed operations of its website and DDM operates KSL.com aside from

Bonneville International Bonneville International Corporation is a media and broadcasting company, wholly owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) through its for-profit arm, Deseret Management Corporation. It began as a radio and TV networ ...

's digital assets.

KSL.com classifieds

KSL Classifieds is a classified advertisements website covering northern and southern

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

and nearby parts of

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

and

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

. It is one of the largest classifieds sites in the U.S. and the only one to draw more users than

Craigslist Craigslist (stylized as craigslist) is a privately held American company operating a classified advertisements website with sections devoted to jobs, housing, for sale, items wanted, services, community service, gigs, résumés, and discussi ...

within its local market.

History

KSL Classifieds was launched in 2000 by broadcaster KSL TV and KSL Newsradio, despite the misgivings of KSL executives who resisted the idea of making ads free for individual users, and despite the fact it would be competing with paid classifieds in the Deseret News, which is also owned by DMC. It claims to be the first broadcast site to offer free classified ads, and one of the first to stream content from television and radio. As its launch predated Craigslist's expansion into Utah by four years, it was able to use the

network effect In economics, a network effect (also called network externality or demand-side economies of scale) is the phenomenon by which the Value (economics), value or utility a user derives from a Goods, good or Service (economics), service depends on th ...

to build its online presence during that time.

Controversies

Gun control activists raised concerns in 2011 that KSL Classifieds did a disservice to its community by providing a marketplace for sellers who were not licensed dealers, since these sellers do not need to perform background checks on buyers. A 2011 report from the office of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

mayor

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman and politician. He is the majority owner and co-founder of Bloomberg L.P., and was its CEO from 1981 to 2001 and again from 2014 to 2023. He served as the 108th mayo ...

found that KSL Classifieds had more gun listings than any other general-purpose online marketplace, exceeded only by online marketplaces that specialize in guns. KSL Classifieds discontinued gun listings in the wake of the

Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting On December 14, 2012, a mass shooting occurred at Newtown Public Schools, Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, United States. The perpetrator, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, shot and killed 26 people. The victims were 20 children bet ...

. In 2023, KSL Classifieds announced changes to their Dogs and Cats classifieds listings to reduce fraud, irresponsible breeders and pet sellers, and better educate users via partnerships with local Humane Societies.

References

External links

"Deseret VP: How Disruption Can Drive Digital Media Companies"
Street Fight. Publishing companies established in 2009 2009 establishments in Utah {{Authority control Latter Day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Deseret News

KSL.com classifieds

History

Controversies

References

Further reading

External links