By Daniel Libit

In early 2017, Kent Walz, the Albuquerque Journal’s long-time editor-in-chief, retired to the role of senior editor.

From this fallback perch, Walz took up the essential task of penning single-sourced puff pieces about New Mexico’s elite — the sorts of people (officeholders, CEOs) who newspapers are supposed to hold accountable — for a semi-regular feature called “Face-to-Face.”

The stories, which are accompanied by a big portrait photo of the subject, get prominent play above-the-fold on the Journal’s front page.

In the journalism biz, these kinds of ingratiating profiles are often known as “beat sweeteners,” with the assumption that they will produce reporting dividends down the road. Continue reading “The ABQ Journal Sweetens its Lobo Beat” →