Experience
Editor and publisher, NMPolitics.net
May 2006 – April 2020
Editor and publisher of NMPolitics.net, a nonpartisan news organization devoted to hard-hitting, fair exploration of politics and government in New Mexico that sought to inform, engage, and build community.
Newspaper columnist
June 2016 – April 2020
Author of a regular political column that appeared in New Mexico newspapers including the Las Cruces Sun-News, Farmington Daily Times, The Independent, Albuquerque Free Press, and The Santa Fe New Mexican.
Board member, Society of Professional Journalists Rio Grande Chapter
January 2017 – December 2018
SPJ is the nation’s most broad-based journalism organization, dedicated to encouraging the free practice of journalism and stimulating high standards of ethical behavior. The Rio Grande Chapter includes New Mexico and West Texas.
Deputy director, New Mexico In Depth
July 2012 – May 2015
• Spent two years securing funding for and launching this news organization (nmindepth.com) that aims to produce investigative reports and forge partnerships with existing media outlets around New Mexico in a bid to nurture a culture of ambitious journalism that tackles big questions and complex issues.
• Responsible for producing several articles a year, forming and managing some media partnerships, supervising some freelancers, and managing promotion of the project.
Freelancer, The New York Times
July 2013 – April 2020
Reporting included covering efforts to legalize same-sex marriage in New Mexico.
Reporter, The New Mexico Independent
May 2008 – March 2010
Covered politics and government for this online news organization.
Columnist, NewWest.net
November 2007 – December 2009
Author of a regular political column.
Columnist, The Albuquerque Tribune
April 2007 – February 2008
Author of a bi-monthly political column until the newspaper shut down 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 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
• In the National Federation of Press Women’s 2016 competition, I won first place for investigative reporting for an article and two commentaries examining a possible conflict of interest current N.M. State Auditor Tim Keller had when he was a state senator.
• In the Society of Professional Journalists’ 2015 Top of the Rockies Competition, I won two awards – a first-place prize for an article about the need for campaign reporting reform in New Mexico, and a second-place award for general website excellence for NMPolitics.net.
• In the New Mexico Press Women’s 2015 competition, I won four awards – first place in investigative reporting, first place among online publications for news reporting, second place for personal opinion writing, and third place among online publications for feature reporting.
• In the Society of Professional Journalists’ 2014 Top of the Rockies competition, I and a team of journalists from New Mexico In Depth won third place among media with a print circulation of less than 10,000 in the health enterprise reporting category for our continued reporting on the state’s freezing of Medicaid funds to behavioral health organizations.
• In the New Mexico Press Women’s 2014 competition, I won two individual awards – first place in the online editorial/opinion category and honorable mention in the online feature category. I was also part of a team of journalists whose coverage of the state’s freezing of Medicaid funds to behavioral providers won second place for continuing coverage.
• In 2013 I was awarded the New Mexico Foundation For Open Government’s William S. Dixon First Amendment Freedom Award given annually to journalists who fight for transparency.
• In the Society of Professional Journalists’ 2013 Top of the Rockies competition, I won two individual awards – first place among online media in the news feature category and second place among online media in the news column category. I was also part of a team of journalists whose coverage of the state’s freezing of Medicaid funds to behavioral health providers won first place among online media for health enterprise reporting, and another team whose series examining Gov. Susana Martinez’s tenure won first place among online media for politics enterprise reporting.
• In the New Mexico Press Women’s 2013 competition, I won first place in the editorial category. I was also part of a team of journalists who won first place in the special series category for a report examining Gov. Susana Martinez’s tenure.
• 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.
• I won a second-place award for spot news in the 2005 New Mexico Associated Press Managing Editors competition for a report about on a mentally ill man who ran over and killed another man during a high-speed police chase. I also won 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.
• I won 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.
• I won a 2001 honorable mention for continuing coverage of the Las Cruces Public Schools controversy in the New Mexico Associated Press Managing Editors competition.
• I won 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.