(Note: Mary Alice Murphy, editor of the Beat, was recently asked how the Beat began and what her background was.)
1. How did Grant County Beat get started?
I was working at the Silver City Daily Press (SCPD), and I knew how much the newspaper was paying to have a digital version of its newspaper, which consisted of nothing but PDFs of each page of the paper, and I had an idea, . I created, designed and offered it to the then owner, Tina Ely, a digital version of the paper that would include the same articles in a more internet-friendly format at a lower price. She rejected the idea as being competition, which I never quite understood., because it would have been the same articles as in the print paper and would have saved her money.
2. What motivated you?
Before the Beat actually started on Sept. 4, 2010, I had thought of the title, The Grant County Beat, and I purchased the domain. A year or more after my original offer to Tina, I was informed on Sept. 1, 2010, that my reporting was no longer welcome at the SCDP. I called to see if I could pick up my paycheck, and Tina answered the phone, so I asked her why. She went into a rant, yelling at me for all the things I had done wrong. I finally interrupted her, telling her I had done none of them. Although I knew who was culpable, I told her I would not tattle. After a long silence, she asked me to come back to reporting for the Press. I, crying and grinning from ear-to-ear at the same time, told her: No, thanks. Another long silence and she asked me what I was going to do. I told her the Grant County Beat, at which point she let go a few expletives and hung up on me. The Beat started three days later and is now 15 years old.
P.S. Tina and I remained friends and when she asked me for help with something, I gladly gave it to her. She also gave me permission to put the articles on veterans I had written for the SCDP into what became God's Umbrella: Southwest New Mexico World War II Survivors.
When I began the Beat, I knew my mission was to separate fact from opinion. I require my reporters to give only facts and not insert their own opinions. The editorial page and Letters to the Editor provide places for people to give their opinions. Most columns on the Beat offer the writers a chance to express their opinions.
3. What was your background in the newspaper business?
I have always liked to read quality newspapers, such as our small local and larger regional, when I was growing up. I read he International Herald Tribune when we lived overseas, even when portions were blacked out in censorship. I still read the Wall Street Journal. I also read and listen to various other news outlets. Every reporter has a curiosity gene, wanting to know what's going on.
In adulthood, I volunteered for a lot of organizations and often was elected secretary, so I learned how to take notes and write them up.
We lived near a large city before we moved to Silver City, and I wrote essays on various topics for several small publications, and created newsletters for several organizations, some paid, some not. I also, before I started working at the Daily Press, wrote a column for the Silver City Sun-News. When the editor there changed, they no longer published my columns, so I offered them to the SCDP editor, and it was thereafter published weekly in the SCDP.
When the Daily Press had an opening for a reporter, the editor hired me in 2001, because, he said: "I know you can write." In that job, I discovered what I wanted to be when "I grew up." The rest is history.
4. The name is The Grant County Beat, but how far do you reach?
Although the Beat focuses on Grant County, I consider the four-county region of Grant, Hidalgo, Luna and Catron as local news and would like to receive more news from them. Because the Beat is digital it can be read all over the world, it often has large readership, which, of course, varies by the topic, from almost every state, Canada, Mexico, European countries and Australia.
5. How are you different from the Silver City Daily Press?
Several ways:
A. One of the main things that may appeal to advertisers is that the ads appear on almost every page of the Beat. A print newspaper puts in an ad once on one page, whereas the Beat has the same ads on every page, so that more people see each ad multiple times.
B. Another major difference is, unlike a print paper, the Beat does not have to confine its articles to what will fit on paper pages. Articles can be the equivalent of as many as 15 or more 8X11 pages of content, thereby allowing detailed reports.
C. The Beat does not have to pay for paper, printing or delivering papers to someone's doorstep or mailbox, giving us a considerable advantage.
D. We can post news releases on the day received or schedule them for a future date at your request.
E. And maybe the best difference is that the Beat is "One Click to Local News," and anyone anywhere with internet connectivity can read it on their phone, table or computer.
6. What was the biggest story you ever broke?
The biggest recent story the Beat broke was the baby rabbit story. https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/grant-county-sheriffs-deputy-allegedly-kills-baby-rabbit-while-supervisors-laugh. Information taken from the article reached New York Post and several other digital and print outlets.
7. What government meetings do you cover?
The Beat, thanks to its dedicated reporters, covers Hurley, Bayard, Santa Clara, Silver City and Grant County commission, council and trustee meetings. The police blotters offer information residents can learn from about what's happening or happened in their neighborhood. The Bear covers GRMC board meetings, WNMU events, and meetings that bring in other government entities.
8. How is the GCB funded?
The Beat is published at no cost to any reader anywhere in the world.
Increasing costs for the Beat, include increasing costs, consisting of domain renewal, a content management platform and its accompanying extensions and their costs and renewals, email and website hosting platforms with monthly costs, property tax for equipment used and gross receipts tax, as well as payrolls for reporters and webmaster.
Advertisers, whether display, classified or legal ads, provide most of the income, with some donors. If donations, especially from those who subscribe to the three times weekly newsletter that provides links to some of the articles, fail to increase, the Beat may have to charge for the newsletter. A donation button on the front page lets people easily donate digitally through a PayPal account.
For more benefits of display advertising, please visit https://www.grantcountybeat.com/about/advertise-with-gcb
9. Who are the people who help you run the Beat?
Their names appear regularly in the Beat.
I, the editor, deal with some meetings and most events, and all the emails, some of which I post. I answer some of them or forward them to one reporter, who posts for the Beat. She serves also a reliable reporter of many of the government meetings and as the Beat bookkeeper. Another reporter addresses crime issues and the blotters, and a third reporter digs into the investigative reporting and candidate questionnaires.
I couldn't do the Beat without their help and your, my readers and advertisers, financial help.
Thank you for being a Beat Reader and supporter.
