Experience
President, Haussamen Publications, Inc.
May 2006 – Present
- Editor and publisher of NMPolitics.net, a news website covering politics and government in New Mexico.
Reporter, The New Mexico Independent
May 2008 – March 2010
- Covered politics and government for this news website published by the American Independent News Network.
Columnist, NewWest.net
November 2007 – December 2009
- Author of a regular political column.
Columnist, The Albuquerque Tribune
April 2007 – February 2008
- Author of a political column that ran twice each month until the newspaper ceased publication on Feb. 23, 2008.
College Instructor, New Mexico State University
August 2006 – December 2006
- Instructor of one section of Journalism 321: Print Media Design, a three-credit, junior-level course about newspaper and magazine layout and design.
Reporter, The Las Cruces Sun-News
August 2000 – May 2002 and March 2004 – May 2006
- Covered several beats during my time at this daily newspaper with a circulation of about 25,000, including law enforcement, courts, education, county government, and religion. I was the staff investigative reporter for a time.
- Wrote a five-part, in-depth series on a rash of child-abuse deaths that plagued the county, analyzing the problems in the community that contributed to the culture of abuse. People seeking tougher state child abuse laws used the articles in their successful lobbying efforts.
- Reported on two binge drinking deaths at New Mexico State University, analyzing policy, law and cultural attitudes. A narrative feature I wrote about one of the students who died won first place in a statewide contest.
- Investigated and reported on secret meetings and financial dealings of the Las Cruces school board, which led to the conviction of five board members for violating open meetings law and the recall of two members. My reporting received an honorable mention in a state competition.
Reporter and copy editor, The Santa Fe New Mexican
August 2003 – March 2004
- Spent three days each week covering the Eldorado area southeast of Santa Fe for a weekly community section and two days on the copy desk selecting and editing wire articles, writing headlines and designing pages.
Editor of The Round Up, New Mexico State University
May 1999 – May 2000 and May 2002 – May 2003
- Trained and supervised a staff of about 30 in the editorial and business aspects of the twice-weekly student newspaper.
- Managed the editorial pages and wrote columns.
Recognition
- Because of my work with NMPolitics.net, in 2011 the D.C. publication Politico named me one of 50 politicos across the nation “who will be a force to reckon with in the 2012 cycle.”
- In 2008, the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza named NMPolitics.net one of the best state politics blogs in the nation.
- Received a second-place award for spot news in the 2005 New Mexico Associated Press Managing Editors competition for an article about a mentally ill man who ran over and killed another man during a high-speed police chase. I also received a third-place award for investigative reporting for an article analyzing the possible role negligence by government officials played in a murder at the county jail, and an honorable mention for spot news for an article about a police shooting.
- Received a first-place award for feature writing in the 2004 New Mexico Associated Press Managing Editors competition for an article recounting the last day in the life of a college student who died of alcohol poisoning.
- Received a 2001 honorable mention for continuing coverage of the Las Cruces Public Schools controversy in the New Mexico Associated Press Managing Editors competition.
- Received two awards of excellence (first place) for news writing and one award of merit (second place) for feature writing in the 2001 Southern New Mexico Press Club competition.
Education
Print and photo journalism, New Mexico State University
Spring 1998 – Spring 2003
- Earned a 3.85 cumulative GPA and bachelor’s degrees in print and photo journalism. Graduated with honors.