Alamogordo Daily News

Infobox Newspaper
name = Alamogordo Daily News


caption = Front page of "Alamogordo Daily News" on May 16, 2008
type = Daily newspaper
format = Broadsheet
foundation = 1898
price = USD 0.50 Daily
USD 1.00 Sunday
owners = MediaNews Group
publisher = Mike Bell
circulation = 6,355 Daily
7,569 Sunday [cite paper
title = MediaNews Group Paid Circulation
publisher = MediaNews Group
date = 2007-03-31
url = http://www.medianewsgroup.com/about/Circulation/Circulation.pdf
format = PDF
accessdate = 2008-05-27]
headquarters = 518 E. 24th Street, Alamogordo, New Mexico
sister newspapers =
oclc = 10674593
website = http://www.alamogordonews.com

"Alamogordo Daily News", founded in 1898, is a daily newspaper published in Alamogordo, New Mexico. It carries local news as well as syndicated content from Associated Press and others.

History

"Alamogordo Daily News" claims 1898 as it founding date, but a case can be made for 1896. A predecessor, the "Chief", was founded in Tularosa as a weekly in 1896, then moved to La Luz the next year and changed its name to "Sacramento Chief". It was sold to the Alamogordo Printing Company in 1899 and continued under the same name briefly before becoming the Alamogordo "News".cite book
last= Townsend
first= David
coauthors= Clif McDonald
title= Centennial: Where the Old West Meets the New Frontier
origyear= 1999
origmonth= July
publisher= Alamogordo/Otero County Centennial Celebration
location= Alamogordo, NM
isbn= 9781887045056
oclc= 41400788] Rp|75The paper continued as a weekly until the 1950s when it went daily.cite book
last= Harwell
first= June
title= Alamogordo Public Library: A Community Treasure, 1900-2000
origyear= 2000
series= Pioneer
volume= 3 no. 1
publisher= Tularosa Basin Historical Society
location= Alamogordo, NM
oclc= 45084643] Rp|9

The paper has been sold several times. Most recently it was sold by Community Newspaper Holdings to MediaNews Group in 2001. [cite journal
last = Santo
first = Jamie
coauthors = Kathryn Wade
date = 2001-07-30
title = Daily Newspaper Sales, January-June 2001
journal = Editor & Publisher
pages = 11
issn = 0013094X
oclc = 1567511 ] The paper is part of the Texas-New Mexico Newspapers Partnership, a joint venture formed in 2003 between MediaNews Group and Gannett, with MediaNews Group the managing partner. [cite press release
title = Gannett, MediaNews Group expand and reorganize Texas-New Mexico Partnership
publisher = Gannett Co., Inc.
date = 2005-12-01
url = http://www.gannett.com/news/pressrelease/2005/pr120105.htm
accessdate = 2008-05-28 ]

The paper was an evening paper until September 1, 2006, published weekday evenings and Sunday mornings. It then switched to a morning paper, published daily except Mondays. [Citation
last = Coltharp
first = Richard
publication-date = 2006-09-13
title = To err is all too human
periodical = Alamogordo Daily News
oclc = 10674593]

The paper regularly wins awards from the New Mexico Press Association [cite paper
title = 2006-2007 NMPA Better Newspaper Contest Winners List
publisher = New Mexico Press Association
url = http://nmpress.org/cms/kunde/rts/nmpressorg/docs/119395661-03-02-2008-21-16-03.pdf
format = PDF
accessdate = 2008-05-28] and from the New Mexico Associated Press Managing Editors. [cite news
author = Associated Press
title = Associated Press Managing Editors annual awards
url = http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/60936.html
publisher = Santa Fe New Mexican
date = 2007-04-29
accessdate = 2008-05-28 ]

Features

Coverage

"Alamogordo Daily News" is primarily a local newspaper. It has a staff of reporters and news editor to write local news. It also carries state, local, and national news from the Associated Press. It covers the city of Alamogordo and the neighboring village of Tularosa. The other incorporated area in Otero County, Cloudcroft, has its own newspaper, the "Mountain Monthly", and does not get much coverage in this paper.

The paper publishes and shares some content with a free weekly tabloid, "Hollogram", at nearby Holloman Air Force Base covering happenings on base.

Major sections

The paper is published in two sections:
* A: local news; weather; an Opinion page; an extensive listing of coming events
* B: sports; state, national, and international news (sometimes split with section A); comics; classified ads

There are several weekly editorial inserts (in additional to advertising inserts):
* Wednesday: "As Seen on TV", a locally produced tabloid based on content from zip2it.com; complete TV listings and some feature stories
* Thursday: "American Profile", a national rotogravure magazine published by Publishing Group of America
* Friday: "Vámonos", an arts, entertainment, and dining tabloid covering Otero and Lincoln Counties; published by and appearing in "Alamogordo Daily News" and in Ruidoso News
* Sunday: "USA Weekend", a national rotogravure magazine published by Gannett

The Opinion page combines editorials, editorial cartoons, op-ed pieces, letters to the editor, and occasionally short feature articles written by community members.

Recurring features

There are full-page sections of photos and press releases that appear once or twice a week:
* "¿Qué Pasa?" features upcoming or just-passed local events
* "Celebrate" features wedding announcements, anniversaries, promotions, etc.
* "Kudos" covers awards and other notable achievements

There are regular columns on gardening, on Alamogordo Public Schools, on Alamogordo Public Library, on animals in the Alameda Park Zoo, and on Otero County Community Health Council. "New Mexico Tally", a roll call from Thomas Voting Reports of how New Mexico's Congressional delegation voted on the most important bills, appears each Saturday.

Web site

The paper's web site carries all the locally-written editorial content. It is updated once or twice daily with breaking news stories that will appear in tomorrow's print edition. There is also an official newspaper blog.

Editorial position

"Alamogordo Daily News" rarely prints unsigned editorials or expresses an official editorial position. The few it publishes usually deal with endorsements for an election. For example, in the March 2008 municipal election it endorsed a candidate in the only contested City Commission race and endorsed a bond issue for street maintenance. [Citation
publication-date = 2008-03-02
title = Daily News endorsements
periodical = Alamogordo Daily News
pages = 4A
oclc = 10674593] In 2006 it made endorsements for all races in the November general election. [Citation
publication-date = 2006-11-02
title = Daily News endorsements for the Nov. 7 election
periodical = Alamogordo Daily News
pages = 4A
oclc = 10674593]

The paper runs a lead editorial in each issue, but they are nearly all reprinted from other newspapers, particularly other MediaNews Group papers. There is no editorial cartoonist, but each issue carries an editorial cartoon from the Copley News Service. The syndicated columnist Jay Miller from Santa Fe appears frequently with his "Inside the Capitol" column about New Mexico politics.

Newspaper staffers occasionally write signed opinion pieces, and while these are not official positions they are featured prominently on the Opinion page. For example, in 2007 there was a contentious bill before the State Legislature to prohibit smoking in most indoor public places and work places. The paper did not take a position on this, but it published signed opinion pieces against the bill by the Assistant Editor [Citation
last = Stevens
first = Jeff
publication-date = 2007-03-04
title = No more smoke-filled back rooms? What gives? (Bitter Medicine)
periodical = Alamogordo Daily News
pages = 5A
oclc = 10674593] and for the bill by the Publisher. [Citation
last = Coltharp
first = Richard
publication-date = 2007-03-08
title = Smoke gets in your eyes (Going Downtown)
periodical = Alamogordo Daily News
pages = 4A
oclc = 10674593]

Notes