The Deseret News, founded in 1850, describes itself as a voice for “faith and family-oriented audiences.” The Tribune — with a daily print circulation of about 61,000, compared with about 40,000 for The News — is known as more of a watchdog publication, as seen in a prizewinning 2013 series of articles about corruption in the state attorney general’s office.

Clark Gilbert, chief executive of The Deseret News, said the rank-and-file readers might see his paper differently from the activists and analysts who were criticizing the agreement. “A lot of our audience feels that there is a gap in the media — there’s no voice for families, no voice for faith. Who’s the watchdog for that?” he asked.

“We completely agree that Salt Lake needs two newspapers and multiple voices,” he said, adding, “We wouldn’t have done this deal if we thought it would contribute to the closing of The Salt Lake Tribune.”

A representative from the Mormon Church declined to comment.

Mr. Gilbert also pointed out that it was The Tribune that introduced the contested changes. The Tribune’s owner, Digital First Media, a company controlled by the New York hedge fund Alden Global Capital, said the revised agreement had been misunderstood and was based on selling off “legacy assets” like a printing press while investing in the digital future.

“There are no plans to cease publication of The Tribune today, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year or ever,” John Paton, the chief executive of Digital First Media, wrote in a recent court filing. The company declined to comment beyond that.

Tony Yapias, originally from Peru, said The Tribune was “more in tune with the Hispanic community.” Mr. Yapias, who is Mormon and moved here 16 years ago, hosts an hourlong Spanish-language radio show three times a week. He said he received more calls from Tribune reporters for comments about issues related to the Hispanic community and, as far back as 1993, had been approached by that paper for advice on how to improve coverage of the growing Hispanic population. (His response: “Hire Latino journalists.”)

Mr. Gilbert said Mr. Yapias was speaking as an activist with political interests. “Political activism is not a concern of ours,” Mr. Gilbert said.