Analysis: New Mexico’s shifting media landscape means, at least in this transitional period, less coverage of politics and government
For people who believe in the media’s mission to bring transparency and accountability to government, the recent news that the online publication the New Mexico Independent was laying off four part-time reporters — the apparent victims of the nation’s economic crisis — was the latest in a string of bad news.
Until recently, The Santa Fe New Mexican was joined by the Albuquerque Journal and Tribune and MediaNews Group — which owns the Las Cruces Sun-News, Farmington Daily Times and several smaller New Mexico newspapers — in assigning reporters full-time to cover the happenings at the state capitol building in Santa Fe.
But the times haven’t been kind to newspapers as readers have shifted to the Internet, cable television and other media for their news. The Tribune has shut down. MediaNews eliminated its capitol bureau. The Journal has cut back from having two reporters in the Roundhouse to one. Among the state’s newspapers, only The New Mexican hasn’t cut back on its coverage of state politics and government.
And the current economic situation is forcing newspapers to tighten their belts even more. To top it off, The Associated Press, which has two reporters stationed in the Roundhouse, plans to cut 10 percent of its approximately 4,000 jobs in 2009.
Nationally, newspapers have been cutting back on coverage of state roundhouses for years, but the situation only recently hit New Mexico hard. Though there are a handful of Web sites in New Mexico, including the Independent and this blog, that are attempting to fill the void created by the newspaper cuts, such sites are still trying to figure out how to achieve sustainability and operate effectively, and they aren’t fully picking up the slack.
That means, in an uncertain transitional period exacerbated by the current economic crisis, there are fewer resources to focus on investigative and in-depth reporting that places the daily news in context. Put simply, fewer journalists watching the happenings at the Roundhouse means a greater potential for shenanigans to go unnoticed.
“The cuts have caused a huge loss of transparency, and we were struggling with that in the first place,” said Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones, R-Albuquerque. “Every time there is less transparency, the people lose.”
“In my opinion we cannot have an informed public when we deprive them of media coverage,” said state Rep. Nate Cote, D-Organ.
In opining recently about the Independent’s layoffs on her blog, New Mexican reporter Kate Nash — who worked for the Tribune until it shut down earlier this year — wrote that the big picture “is not a good one. I say that not just for the people like me who earn a living giving you the news, but for you, the reader. With fewer and fewer places to get your news, you’re getting less and less of the whole picture, whether it’s politics, world news or sports.”
The shift to the Internet
As the New York Times recently reported, online journalistic operations are attempting in some places to fill the void in political journalism created by newspaper cuts. California is one of many states where those interested in watchdog journalism are turning to nonprofits to help.
In New Mexico, there are some examples of advertising-funded online news Webs sites, including this blog, but there’s also a nonprofit venture in the Independent. There was a lot of optimism when, in April, the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Independent Media (CIM) started the Independent. The Web site sought to fill the void left by the Tribune, which shut down in February, citing the newspaper’s tough watchdog journalism as its goal.
The Independent’s reporters have kept a close eye on government in its first few months of existence, so the news that the site would cut back from 11 to seven staffers came as a shock to some. But online journalism is still maturing, and many Web sites across the nation have reorganized — which for some has included moving toward a donor-driven, nonprofit model the Independent already follows — as they have searched for ways to operate more effectively.
The Independent’s publisher, David Bennahum, wrote in a recent posting on the Independent’s Web site that the center’s reorganization — which he said will include “a more centralized editorial system” and “more full-time writers and fewer part-time writers” will “allow us to deepen and strengthen coverage in the states we serve.” At this point, the Independent hasn’t hired any new, full-time reporters or promoted part-time reporters, but that’s expected in the coming months.
The Albuquerque nonprofit Center for Civic Policy, which has been actively lobbying the legislature on ethics reform and other issues, helped secure funding to start the Independent but has no control over its content. Matt Brix, the center’s policy director, said the center is intervening in the media situation because “thorough and comprehensive media coverage” of the Legislature is essential if citizens are to be informed.
“It is very troubling to know many newspapers are cutting back coverage of state politics, particularly during the important time of the legislative session,” he said. “It has been clear for some time that the future of journalism must include an online presence and credible journalists. This is a time when publications like the New Mexico Independent can fill a real void.”
‘An appetite to be informed’
Meanwhile Rob Dean, managing editor of The New Mexican, said the newspaper has no plans to cut back on its coverage of politics and government. As the capitol-city newspaper, he said The New Mexican “has a unique responsibility.”
“We are the seat of government, the center of politics, and a huge number of people in this community owe their living to state government. For us, it’s not reporting on something that’s distant to folks. It is part of the essence of their very lives,” Dean said. “We are very aware that a lot of news people and a lot of readers hold the view that politics and government coverage is really for insiders and special interests and people with agendas, and that it’s a fairly small audience. … But that’s not the case here.”
The New Mexican is in the midst of another round of budget cuts, seeking to eliminate 10 positions through buyouts. Dean said the newspaper has tried to be strategic in its cuts so it can “cling to its core mission.”
The essence of that mission is “getting people out on the streets” to report on important stories, which Dean said the newspaper makes “an absolute priority.” Keeping a focus on that mission will be key to newspapers navigating through the economic crisis and the shift to the Internet, he said.
“I think as times get tougher and those (economic) difficulties spread across a community, there is an appetite to be informed,” he said. “If they’re not feeling that instinct, they will and they should, and again that gets to the essence of what we do — supply information to people and get them informed so they can get involved.”
“If we give that up, we are cutting off one of our limbs,” Dean said. “And I don’t mean in the newspaper business; I mean in society — actually, in both.”
By way of disclosure, I’m obviously a New Mexico-based online political journalist. In addition to publishing this Web site, I write for the New Mexico Independent. I’m also a former reporter and copy editor for The New Mexican, and I wrote a twice-monthly column for the Tribune until it shut down earlier this year.