Several years ago I interviewed a young, talented, energetic reporter from New Mexico who was applying for a job at The San Diego Union-Tribune. It didn't take long to hire him. He started his tenure here working in a bureau covering cops. It didn't take long for him to complete an investigation detailing how El Cajon police were getting into more collisions than a drunk at a demolition derby.
Ultimately, he moved over to the government team, where it didn't take long for him to latch onto an investigation detailing how administrators had no records for almost $1 million in grants given to community groups from special funds set up for each of the five county supervisors.
He was good. He loved his job. He loved the profession. But he wanted to move closer to his family, so - despite my urgings not to - he took a post with the Rocky Mountain News. His track record in Denver was similar to that in San Diego. Relentless, determined, passionate and talented, he went after the same sort of wrongdoing in the Rocky Mountains that he found in San Diego County.
He sent me an email today asking for a reference. The Rocky Mountain News is on the market. If it doesn't sell, it will probably shut down. My friend will be out of a job. And our profession might lose yet another rising star.
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About Me
- threatenedjournalist
- San Diego, California, United States
- I realized I could get paid for my articles when I sold a couple pieces to California Journal and Mother Jones magazines in 1981. I've since written for weeklies and dailies and toiled as a reporter for 16 years before becoming an editor in 1996. I've been working for the Pulitzer Prize winning San Diego Union-Tribune since 2000. Other than playing centerfield for the Dodgers, there's nothing I'd rather do for a living.
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