What's going on, Albuquerque?

Massive Downtown Drug Bust

The Abq.Journal has posted this video of this weekend's massive drug bust at a downtown bar.

Speakin' of our local paper, their new feature called UPFRONT which started today (Sunday, 8/10/08) seems to be trying to do a hard copy DUKE CITY FIX sort of thing...Reporters will have daily columns on life in the Duke City.

TWO ADDENDUM NOTES from Jeff Hartzer:-> #1-I have posted a new 'DCF blog entry' all about 'UPFRONT'. Turns out the AbqJournal's new column is pretty danged good! Please see:-> UPFRONT.

#2-MEANWHILE, the fresh chaos continues re: the CLUB 7 FIASCO...
In an Albuquerque Journal front page story from Wed., August 13th, 2008, the Honorable Mayor Martin Chazez is now quoted as saying:"We are done with them." Mayor Chavez goes on to say:"We are getting reports that this weekend minors were being served alcohol. Teenagers were in their underwear ... That's just not going to happen. I am going to protect the kids in my town, and that place is not going to open."

Governor Bill Richardson has also spoken up in support of Mayor Chazez offering statewide help in closing down Club 7 permanently.

Tags: APD, Albuquerque_drug_bust, UPFRONT_mimics_DCF, club_7, downtown_drug_bust, drugs, martin_chavez

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Comment by Barelas Babe on August 10, 2008 at 10:04pm: I was annoyed because a blog topic I've been holding in reserve appeared as a feature last week in the Journal. Sigh. (Looks like we're all reading WaPo?)

OTOH, their writers seem to all come from the Boomer demographic, which is quite different than DCF! From what I can tell, we've got bloggers from Gen Y up to whatever the generation between "the Greatest Generation" and Baby Boomers is called.
But I think most hard copy newpaper readers are probably boomers and older...?

Comment by Robert S. on August 10, 2008 at 11:20pm: gotta love newspapers trying to stay relevant. I read it because my dad subscribes to it, so it doesn't cost me anything to look at it and see if they report something I haven't seen elsewhere on TV or read on the net in a blog or google news.

yes, I think most hard copy newspapers are boomers or older. teens and young adults and nearling middle aged adults (like me) have grown up around technology and computers so it's not that hard to get to a website and read articles. Older people who have more trouble with technology find it easier to just read their news off paper.

Comment by MayMay on August 11, 2008 at 9:19am: It is important to remember that one of the most important elements of a newspaper is the reporters' presence in government, police affairs. While the Journal might not be the best little paper in the country, its reporters are still out there watching council meetings, police misdoings and whatnot. They should get some respect for that. And former Tribune reporter and columnist Joline Gutierrez Kreuger is one of the J's selected columnists. So that is a good thing!!!

Comment by jasonwolf on August 11, 2008 at 9:44am: I think the title of this blog should be changed... I wanted to read about the drub bust, and not about contemporary journalism mediums riding on the heals of internet / social network driven journalism (which isn't news at all really)...

I saw the drug bust go down... I was working at The Launchpad during the bust, and it was very eerie to see everyone outfront on their knees with hands clasped ontop of their heads. They set up a 2 square block perimeter south of the club and wouldn't let anyone walk on the other side of the street.

I counted three different uniforms there, but I noticed that the Sheriff's office wasn't there.... or maybe I didn't see them as I was told to "move on". I really wanted to stop and watch it all go down since I firmly believe that we all should watch and observe authority and our public servants in action.

Rumor on the street that night (and the rumor I helped spread of sorts) was that there was a stabbing... Blogs, internet published journalism, and Social Network news will always have an upper hand on ink and paper printing... and the video... they probably bought it from the guy who ENG'd it with his cell phone.

Happy Monday to you all in the Duke City!

Comment by MayMay on August 11, 2008 at 9:53am: yeah, i agree jasonwolf! where were you standing when you were told to move along? did you feel like you couldn't stay or did you just not want to hang around?

Comment by once banned twice shy on August 11, 2008 at 10:19am: The columns in the Journal are going to be about NM as a whole. Not just Albq.

Comment by Jeff Hartzer on August 11, 2008 at 10:25am: Well that's good to hear..btw "once banned twice shy" is an interesting and curiouser and curiouser sort of handle.

Comment by JeSais on August 11, 2008 at 10:27am: in San Diego they tried / are trying something similar, San Diego Backyard. Not sure if its gaining traction. I hope so... no one else was doing it in San Diego.

Their foray into the blogosphere started with the audaciously titled blog:
America's Finest Blog. Never did figure out the point of that one.... its just an editorial published online. Not very "bloggy"

Bottom line is that newspapers are going to have to change their MO if they are going to want to stay in business. The Washington Post is a prime example...
many papers are laying off print journalist while at the same time growing their online departments.

Comment by Jeff Hartzer on August 11, 2008 at 10:33am: You write a blog here and the many DCFixers take it where it goes...My favorite blog entry at DCF that went off topic was the great story with photographs by an attendee of Barack Obama's recent appearance in ABQ that rapidly went away from the actual event, over to all about the coffee shop instead. I will be more careful in the future to keep my blog topic more single-issued...

Comment by mombat on August 11, 2008 at 10:47am: I think the organic growth of blogs is part the attraction. The blog is dynamic and that is what makes it interesting.