(NewsWire) Salt Lake City, UT

Surrounded by employees and city officials, renowned newsman and consumer protection advocate Bill Gephardt announced his official endorsement of Salt Lake Shitty as the first Gephardt Approved™ news source in Utah, citing its commitment to quality, in-depth journalism, the likes of which he hasn’t seen or performed in years.

“They just don’t make them like this anymore,” said Gephardt. “I recently found a copy of Salt Lake Shitty on the bathroom floor of my Gephardt Approved™ dentist with half the pages torn out. Even when covered in spit and the edges torn, I felt like I was getting the whole story.”

A fixture in investigative reporting for local television news, Bill Gephardt began Gephardt Approved™ in 2010 while still under contract as a reporter for local CBS affiliate, KUTV 2, and NBC affiliate, KSL 5. Gephardt Approved™ companies are subjected to intense internal investigations that can last as long as a few hours to ensure business owners are, as Gephardt puts it, “playing by the rules.”

Bill Gephardt’s investigations into local Utah businesses are remarkably thorough. Gephardt made headlines in 2013 when, while investigating a local pet cemetery, he personally drowned a basket of golden retriever puppies in the courtyard fountain of a LaQuinta Inns & Suites. The cemetery was approved, while the LaQuinta just missed the mark for their in-pool spaghetti policy.

Salt Lake Shitty was subjected to the same intense scrutiny to receive the hallowed endorsement. Since 2010, four Gephardt Approved™ companies have been fined by the Utah Division of Consumer Protection for deceptive practices and practicing without a license. Twenty-nine Approved™ businesses have been taken to court for broken contracts, debt collection, and tax liens, and in just three years, Gephardt Approved™ companies have collected 350 complaints filed against them with the Better Business Bureau. Salt Lake Shitty has been quoted saying their editorial staff is committed to “significantly adding to those totals.”

When asked what makes the publication different from other newspapers, magazines, periodicals, propaganda, and websites, Gephardt explained, “When it comes to journalistic integrity, you know Salt Lake Shitty isn’t for sale. No visible conflicts of interest. They tell it like it is. Money pollutes the dialogue and corrupts readers into believing what’s said as the unequivocal truth because it came off the tongue of a person they’ve trusted. You can’t trust the integrity of journalists that sell their opinions as fact.”

The post Salt Lake Shitty Named Utah’s First ‘Gephardt Approved’™ News Source appeared first on Salt Lake Shitty.