One million reads and beyond

As editor of City Desk ABQ, I’m proud to announce a major milestone: We’ve received one million reads since the organization launched in January. 

What that means is even before we hit our one-year anniversary, we’ve delivered to readers a long list of stories they couldn’t find anywhere else. When City Desk launched, the goal was to provide an alternative to local legacy media outlets that have seen continued staff cutbacks and fewer stories that have impact. I’m honored to say we have, and continue to, meet that goal. 

I’ve only been on the job since August, so a lot of the credit goes to my predecessors, but more so to the determined reporters who work tirelessly to keep readers informed and engaged. 

Our city hall reporter Elizabeth McCall, for example, always has a preview of City Council meetings with information on how residents can participate, while also spending many late nights covering those meetings. She recently brought to light that the council likely violated a state transparency law when councilors discussed potential litigation with little to no other explanation. 

Damon Scott, who covers housing and homelessness, has put in countless hours writing and reporting on the city’s shelters and providing much-needed context to what it means to experience homelessness.

Rodd Cayton, who covers anything and everything that comes across his desk, including Bernalillo County Commission meetings and breaking news. In fact, as I write this, he is working diligently to get more information about a police presence at a local high school. 

I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention our award-winning photographer Roberto Rosales, who is always bouncing around town grabbing beautiful and powerful photos for us.

We’ve also recently been blessed with the work of our student reporter Lauren Lifke, who’s always willing to take a crack at copy editing, breaking news and literally anything else that’s asked of her. 

I’m highlighting our reporters’ work partly because they flat out deserve it, but mostly because I want subscribers and donors to understand the hard work that goes into producing original and impactful stories. We truly cannot do this without community support. 

So, I humbly ask our readers to continue that support and consider encouraging friends and family to do the same. Anything you can contribute means a lot to me and the rest of our staff and also ensures we can keep bringing you those important stories that keep you informed. 

You can donate here, and if you know someone who would like to subscribe, share this link with them.