Scott D. Pierce Dies: Veteran TV Critic For Salt Lake City Tribune, TCA President Was 64

Bruce Haring
·2 min read
Scott D. Pierce Dies: Veteran TV Critic For Salt Lake City Tribune, TCA President Was 64

Scott D. Pierce, who served as a television critic for more than three decades at The Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News, died Friday at 64. His death was confirmed by his partner Rob Sonoda to The Salt Lake Tribune, but no cause was given.

Pierce began his career as a TV critic on March 31, 1990 at the Deseret News.

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Pierce wrote for the Deseret News for 20 years, losing the job in 2010 in a round of layoffs that affected 43% of that newspaper’s staff. A Tribune editor called him the next day to offer him a role as a reporter.

At The Tribune, beyond television criticism, he wrote general features and the occasional theater review, according to the publication He later worked the early-morning breaking news shift in addition to covering entertainment.

In a message to the newsroom Friday, Tribune executive editor Lauren Gustus wrote, “He was a friend to many of us.” In addition to working with longtime Tribune staff, she said, “he also welcomed the newest reporters, making an effort to find connections with folks who had recently joined us.”

Gustus noted that Pierce “had a conversational style that made him easy to read, and a willingness to take on anything journalism happened to throw his way on any given day.”

Pierce also was one of the original panelists on the popular “Geek Show Podcast,” starting in 2008. He remained on the show for six or seven years, Kerry Jackson, the podcast’s creator and co-host of X96′s “Radio From Hell” program told the Tribune.

A longtime member of the Television Critics Association, Pierce attended its twice-yearly press tours in Los Angeles for several years. He also occasinally emceed TCA’s awards ceremony and served as TCA’s president in 2014.

Pierce’s final TV column — an interview with the creator of the historical drama series The Chosen, based on the life of Jesus— is scheduled to be published in Sunday’s print edition of The Tribune.

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