The New Mexico Independent

Local news in context

The New Mexico Independent is a fleet-footed webpaper of politics and policy. We are the ink-stained wretches of the digital era. We aim for snap-crackle-pop reporting in our articles and blog posts – all working together to tell a bigger story. We provide thought-provoking commentary from insightful experts. We write to record scenes from the passing show, to stir things up and to keep those in power honest. We seek to explore and define the Land of Enchantment and the context for our times.

gwyn-mug-shotGwyneth Doland, Editor

Gwyneth Doland was a columnist and editor at the Santa Fe Reporter and Weekly Alibi for nearly 10 years before joining the New Mexico Independent for its debut in 2008. She is a correspondent for New Mexico in Focus, the public affairs program on New Mexico’s PBS affiliate, KNME. She is also a director of the New Mexico Society of Professional Journalists. A native of Washington, D.C., she has lived in Albuquerque since 1994.  You can reach her at  gdoland(at)newmexicoindependent.com

trip-jennings-pic2Trip Jennings, Senior Writer

Trip Jennings has worked in newspapers for nearly 20 years, including the Albuquerque Journal, where he reported on Gov. Bill Richardson, the New Mexico Legislature and state government. In addition to New Mexico, Trip has worked in Georgia, California, Florida and Connecticut where he covered a governor who went to federal prison for corruption. Trip can be reached at tjennings(at)newmexicoindependent.com

heath-mug-shotHeath Haussamen, Senior Writer

After seven years as a newspaper reporter and editor, Heath Haussamen left behind a stable paycheck in May 2006 to join the Internet revolution. He started Heath Haussamen on New Mexico Politics, a news Web site covering politics and government in New Mexico that was recently named by the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza as one of the best state politics blogs in the nation. Haussamen also contributes weekly to the Diary of a Mad Voter blog published by the Denver Post’s Politics West and the independent Web site NewWest.net. You can find Heath’s blog at nmpolitics.net and learn more about him at haussamen.com. Heath can be reached at hhaussamen(at)newmexicoindependent.com

marjorie-imageMarjorie Childress, Reporter/Blogger

Marjorie Childress lives and works in Albuquerque. She is one of the voices behind m-pyre, a local blog founded in 2004. She has a graduate degree in Community and Regional Planning from the University of New Mexico, and works for the SouthWest Organizing Project (SWOP). Any views she expresses on NMI are solely hers, and do not reflect the opinions of SWOP or any other community group with which she’s affiliated. You can reach Marjorie at mchildress(at)newmexicoindependent.com

matt-faux-mug-shotMatthew Reichbach, Reporter/Blogger

Matthew is a local blogger who co-founded and writes for New Mexico FBIHOP. Matthew has been blogging about politics since September of 2005 and about New Mexico politics since February of 2006. Matthew can be reached at mreichbach(at)newmexicoindependent.com

.
.

The Center for Independent Media

The Center’s Mission

The Center for Independent Media is a nonprofit 501c(3) organization that fosters diversity of ideas in the national debate by educating and training people on the use of new communications technologies like the Internet as an alternative publishing and distribution system to traditional broadcast and print media. The center brings talented and diverse voices and ideas to the fore of our nation’s discourse, through its training programs, conferences, research and publishing operations. Programs emphasize the importance of citizen-driven journalism as a critical founding principle of our nation, the positive role of democratically elected government in securing the common good and social welfare, and the continuing benefits of our founding culture of egalitarian government by the people, for the people.

History

The Center for Independent Media was founded on May 1, 2006, as a nonpartisan nonprofit organization. The center created the New Journalist Pilot Program to test the hypothesis that a melding of blog technology with the standards of professional journalism could produce original news and information, which in turn would contribute to diversifying public debate around issues of importance.

The New Journalist Pilot Program resulted in the creation of two online news sites; Colorado Confidential and Minnesota Monitor. Seventeen people participated in the program as Fellows or Senior Fellows. Based on the successful performance of the New Journalist Pilot Program, a decision was made to expand operations and increase the number of programs. In May 2007, the CIM launched its third program, Iowa Independent. In September 2007, the center launched its fourth program, Michigan Messenger. The New Mexico Independent went online in August 2008.

Readership

In 2007, 2.7 million people viewed our sites. Our Fellows’ stories were cited in newspapers 284 times, reaching millions of readers in local communities through their local media. Our Fellows went on TV and radio 178 times, reaching millions through broadcast media with important messages on the key issues in their states, such as immigration, education, health care, national security, civil rights and liberties, and state budgetary priorities. All told, our Fellows generated 84 million impressions on TV, radio, and newspapers, up from 45 million last year.