Parker Mortensen’s career has taken him through internships, guest and editorial positions, podcast host, art critic, editor, communications coordinator, and now he’s recently joined the newsroom at The Park Record.
Although this wasn’t necessarily their “plan,” they said they’ve always enjoyed writing.
“Growing up, I wrote a lot. I would go home and just write,” they said, like short stories or personal essays. “I really enjoyed that and I think it helped me express myself early on. So I always saw myself as a writer.”
They published their first story at age 16 after spending a semester as a page for the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C., as the only Utah student. Upon their return, their local newspaper asked them to write an editorial about their experience.
Their personal blog later provided them with more publishing opportunities, they said, and they often wrote essays about art and video games, one of their favorite pastimes while growing up as only children in Brigham City, a small town north of Salt Lake.
“My parents bought me a Game Boy on a car trip to Disneyland when I was 3 or 4, and I was hooked ever since,” they said. “As I got older and started to get interested in writing, I wrote about games.”
These personal essays caught the attention of a website called Gamer’s Guide to Life, to which they contributed for a time.
While attending Snow College, they wrote for the Sanpete Messenger as interns. They then moved to Salt Lake City for the University of Utah and began writing for SLUG Magazine, which stands for Salt Lake Underground, in 2016.
You worked for SLUG in various capacities until 2023, writing the magazine’s monthly arts feature, producing the SLUG Soundwaves podcast, serving as an editor, and finally working as a communications coordinator.
Writing is still Mortensen’s passion, but he’s excited to focus more on editing in his new position at The Park Record.
“I think it’s hard sometimes being a writer because you’re really putting yourself in the spotlight. Your mistakes or your worldview become obvious or are visible to people and stay for a while,” they said. “This role just fits really well with where I am right now. … I’ve really come to appreciate editing a lot more than writing.”
Being an editor means supporting others, they said.
“When you write your own work, you become blind to the problems, or at least have a hard time seeing them. And then when you look at someone else’s work, it’s so easy to see how it could be improved because you’re not so attached to it,” they said. “It’s really satisfying to be able to help other people really clarify their minds and get to the point.”
In addition to his work as an editor and writer, Mortensen revived the community calendar in the print newspaper and helped publish brief news items on the website.
After working in Salt Lake for many years, they are also looking forward to exploring Park City.
“I vacationed here as a kid and saw it through a kid’s eyes,” they said. “There’s an interesting tension in Park City between being a small town and a vacation destination, and of course things like the Olympics. I never imagined how dynamic this place would be.”
