Video: APD Officer Attacks KOB-TV Photographer

Disclaimer: This post does not reflect the opinions of KOB-TV, of its management, nor of its owner.


This morning here in Albuquerque, KOB-TV photographer Rick Foley was physically attacked, handcuffed, and cited by an unknown Albuquerque police officer that apparently didn't like being photographed.

Foley was shooting video in the east Central area after a suspect who allegedly shot at police had been found in a dumpster.

At the beginning of the video you can hear Foley acknowledge the officer's order to move to a different intersection. Foley, a veteran in the Albuquerque TV news market, continues to record as the officer gets physically aggressive:

Here's a link to KOB.com containing the raw video of the encounter.

The overzealous officer then cited Foley for "refusing to obey," and placed him in the back of a patrol unit while cuffed. Foley claims the officer then searched his news unit without permission and refused to release his name and badge number (which is required by law).

Below is a scan of the original citation (the officer failed to print his name clearly) and wrote "Foley was asked several times to move as he filmed me sticking his camera in my face." (Click on image for a bigger picture.)



Foley, who has been a news photographer for 25 years, says this is the first time he has been handcuffed and cited by a police officer while on assignment.

This unknown officer clearly overstepped his bounds, abused his authority by physically attacking a photographer who was just doing his job.

This type of behavior is unacceptable and should not be tolerated by the Albuquerque Police Department, nor should it be tolerated by other citizens who practice the right to free press.

Police have an extraordinary amount of power. They can detain and charge people at will. This power should not be abused merely because a police officer doesn't like being videotaped.
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jeremyjojola.com

Strange News Tips Part II

It's that period between "sweeps" months where I spend time listening to dozens of voicemails and slogging through dozens of emails while hoping to find those good tips that turn out to be something I can chase and document.

I think I'm getting better at quickly dismissing the obvious duds, like these "tips" I've received over the past month:

1) Tipster claimed her Satan-worshiping neighbors implanted a mind-control device in her head. She told me to investigate local spy shop for selling this mind control device.

2) Caller demanded I investigate a local radio station for playing too many commercials.

3) Another tipster wanted me to investigate the bad service she received at a restaurant.

4) And then there are the chemtrail people and the 9/11 conspiracy people I get at least a couple times a month.

If you've got a good tip, let me know. (Elvis Sightings, Jimmy Hoffa theories, and government mind-control claims will be dismissed, but listened to with amusement.)
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jeremyjojola.com

That Video Will Haunt You

The other day I came across this video of "The Top Ten Angry On-Camera Meltdowns" by news people (Warning: link connects to hilarious images of well-known news people shouting out vulgarities like sailors.)

Being in the news business since 1996, I've seen my share of meltdowns. People throwing things across the newsroom. Anchors slamming desks with their fists. And plenty of newsroom shouting matches that sound like a bunch of monkeys screaming at each other. And I have to admit, I've raised my voice a few times and have gotten caught up into shouting matches with coworkers when a train wreck hits. Nothing positive comes out of these verbal skirmishes except red faces and sometimes grudges.

This business is stressful with long hours and high expectations from news bosses and viewers. Sometimes we loose control--sometimes on camera. In some cases, some news people are just spoiled and feel they can act like children. In any case though, a live microphone, or any microphone for that matter is a dangerous thing. Even when the red "on-air" light is off, someone is always listening and recording.

But in today's era of internet video, mistakes don't disappear forever into the horizon as radio and tv signals beam out into space. Video sticks and as you see above with the link I posted, it's haunting.
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jeremyjojola.com

Blog Featured on TVSPY.com

This morning I received an email from my friend Mark Horner of Beyond90seconds.com about my blog being featured on tvspy.com in the ShopTalk/iBlog section.

This is a surprise! Thanks to KOB-TV's assignment desk guy Mike Anderson for suggesting my site.

The write up talks about other television journalists across the country that have blogs too.

I've found blogging to be a great venue for us reporters to explain how things work behind the scenes and why we do what we do.

Often people have their own ideas of what it's like to be a reporter, most of it based on stereotypes and what they see in the movies (the reporter who is a vicious "vulture" waiting to exploit victims of crime and tragedy without emotion).

Blogging also gives us a chance to write as much as we want without the limitations of a scripted report. Soon, I hope to start adding much more to this site, including scanned copies of documents that may relate to a report I aired.
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jeremyjojola.com

National Spotlight on Palomas

A couple of weeks ago I went to Palomas, Mexico to do a story about the drug-related violence. Here's my report.

Last night I saw that NBC Nightly News picked up the same story. It's good to see the national media focusing on this problem. This will put even more pressure on Mexico to curb the recent violence along its border with the US.
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jeremyjojola.com

Kids Unrestrained

Last night I aired a report about parents getting caught not strapping their children into car seats. You can see the full report here.

While putting together all the elements for this story, I noticed a pattern that I'm sure viewers at home noticed too.

After driving all over Albuquerque, most of the parents we found that broke the car seat law are Spanish-speaking, probably from Mexico or another Latin American country.

I found that in Latin American countries, car seat laws either don't exist or are rarely enforced. This could be why we saw this pattern. Perhaps parents from foreign countries don't expect the law here to be enforced either as a result of upbringing and a different culture.

We decided not to point out this pattern in our report because it was simply anecdotal and couldn't be backed up with traffic violation statistics relating to immigrants.
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jeremyjojola.com

Look at What I Found.......

Last night I came home and found a pigeon's nest on my balcony. As you can see in the picture I took with my camera phone, there's a perfect white egg in the center. I think it's pretty cool.

The nest sits right behind my grill on the floor. No wonder I've been hearing a bunch of pigeons lately. I grilled just the other day too (ironically, chicken). I hope the birds don't mind.

The momma bird freaks out when I open the door and flies off. Minutes later she'll come back and sit on the nest.

I put some bread crumbs out there for her and her mate. I'm not sure how long it takes for a pigeon egg to hatch--hopefully not too long. I've got some hamburgers in the freezer that I want to sink my teeth into soon.

In the mean time, I've got a story tonight at ten about parents who don't strap their children into car seats. It's actually turning out to be a sensitive story. I just sent the script over to my boss.

It was one of the hardest scripts to write because of some things we found while shooting the story.

Hopefully it works out.....
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jeremyjojola.com

Oops! You've Got the Wrong Guy

This morning I came into work and opened up this email:

"Jeremy, please get you facts correct about the Council meeting this evening. The Balloon Museum is NOT the Balloon Fiesta Museum. We have NO affiliation with the Fiesta. We are a City owned museum. And please check the amendments. The figures you gave are incorrect. Thank you"

I didn't cover the story. In fact, I've been so involved with another story I'm working on, I'm not even sure what the story is about. I've been out of newsroom all day, and will be again today.

Often viewers will confuse me with other reporters and vice-versa. It's really no big deal, but sometimes there are dangers in confusion.

The confused person who wrote this email could complain to other people she works with at the museum, by dropping my name and saying I reported incorrect information. That hurts my credibility, and it's not good.

I called the sender of the email, and thankfully I got a hold of her and explained she got the wrong guy.

No harm, no foul....at least I hope.
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jeremyjojola.com

Grant County Detention Center Laziness?

Earlier this month I aired a report about a state employee accused of funneling out more than half-a-million dollars in tax payer funds from the Children Youth and Families Department.

While trying to get the mug shots of the 17+ defendants in this case, I found the Grant County Detention Center didn't have the photos. This was quite surprising because many of the defendants in the case were booked at the jail according to records.

A corrections officer at the jail told me sometimes the jail's officers "get lazy" and don't take photos of people being booked.

Wow.

Well, that's great. A facility responsible for booking people charged with serious crimes is not taking photos of them because of "laziness."

It's comforting to hear the corrections officers at the jail are working hard to keep the public in Silver City and the rest of Grant County safe.

What happens when a former inmate, like a sex offender, needs to be hunted down again? What happens if this sex offender's photo needs to be released to the public?

Don't count on the Grant County Jail to take care of the details, because of their "laziness."

I called and complained to a jail supervisor. He said he would "check into it." By the end of the day I was told the jail's computer system deleted the photos on "accident."

For some reason, I find that excuse very hard to believe.
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jeremyjojola.com

Crossing the Border and Missing It

Working on yesterday's story about border drug violence made me miss the days of working near Mexico.

When I was a reporter for KTSM-TV in El Paso six years ago, one of the most favorite things I loved about my job was being able to cross into Ciudad Juarez for assignments.

I loved it. Once stepping across the border, it seemed the whole world would change around me. I would cross the border into the bustling, sometimes, grimy environment of Juarez to cover stories from drug cartel violence to water issues in the dusty outskirts of the city.

The way people drive in Juarez is starkly different too. It almost seems there are no rules on the road. Stops signs don't matter and seem just like suggestions. Being a pedestrian in Juarez often feels dangerous, like being stuck in a swarm of runaway, mad cattle hopped up on methamphetamine.

And then there's the poverty. Barefoot children selling gum like aggressive stock-traders attack tourists like killer bees. No sidewalks exist in some neighborhoods. Many of the roads are unpaved and electrical wires hang down from homes like black spaghetti. If a building code officer from the US walked through here, he would have a heart attack.

But this is what makes border life beautiful. It's life on the line where the struggle to make ends meet and the battle for identity remain constant.

Crossing into Palomas, Mexico on Wednesday made me miss my time at KTSM. It was a four hour drive from Albuquerque to the port of entry in Columbus, New Mexico. And while the characteristics of the border sometimes are indistinguishable on both sides of the line, I found it amazing once again how things change with a simple crossing.

The streets of Palomas are not paved, at least not most of them. Dogs walk around as if they are on their last leg of life. One dog I found looked like a zombie.

The city planning, it seems, has no plan--buildings are thrown together without thought.

But it's all beautiful and messy at the same time, kind of like an abstract painting.



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jeremyjojola.com

In Palomas, Mexico

Tonight at ten on KOB, I'll be airing a report about the escalating violence along the US-Mexico border.

Yesterday I spent about an hour in Palomas, Mexico and saw this cool statue of Poncho Villa right in the middle of town.

I'd write more today, but I've got two deadlines at 5 and 10....gotta run!
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jeremyjojola.com - Tip-Line: 505-764-2550 - jjojola@kob.com

Blogging at 65 mph

As I'm writing this, I'm sitting in an unmarked station news unit traveling at more than 65 miles-per-hour somewhere on I-25 thanks to modern technology. For now I won't reveal exactly where I am because I'm working on a story set to air tomorrow night.

I'm using a laptop that has a broadband wireless card. As long as there is a good signal, I can connect to the internet. It's amazing. I can connect to Google Maps, look up names, addresses, connect to online government databases, all while on the road.

I can even connect to the newsroom software back at the station and print documents and/or scripts for producers and editors at the printers just feet away from their desks.

I can instant message, email from anywhere, even though I'm more than 100 miles away from the station.

When I started as a reporter nearly ten years ago at KTSM-TV, I never though this sort of technology would be available. I also have a digital camera with me. If I saw something on the side of the road, like a huge fire, or some sort of other breaking news, I could send back digital images to the newsroom that could be used on air.

This kind of technology is phenomenal and continues to evolve. I wonder what will be available ten years down the road....
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jeremyjojola.com - Tip-Line: 505-764-2550 - jjojola@kob.com

Senator's Same Old Story

I'd like to throw out a "hat-tip" to NMFBIHOP (a political blog) for writing about New Mexico Senator Shannon Robinson's involvement with UNM Rugby and his role as a legislator.

Back in 2006 I aired a report showing how Senator Robinson secured public funding for the New Mexico Sports Authority, which in turn, spent that money to put his rugby team on television.

Since the report aired, there have been several Albuquerque Journal articles about Robinson's dealings as a senator and as a rugby coach, and how the two roles seem to create a conflict of interest.

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jeremyjojola.com - Tip-Line: 505-764-2550 - jjojola@kob.com

Sometimes Stuff Doesn't Make Air

It's amazing how many voice mails and emails I get from people who need help (people who can't get answers from a company or a government agency).

I received one such email the other day from a woman who claimed she was buying some prescription drugs at a Walgreen's. She was at the drive-up window at a store in Los Lunas last December when she put a 100-dollar bill into the tube delivery system. She claims the tube sucked up her money, spit out her drivers license, and lost the cash before it arrived to the pharmacist's counter.

For months the woman claimed she has tried to get her money back. Here's her email (name withheld):

I had a problem with Walgreens in Los Lunas on Monday night the Pharmacy, I went thru the drive thru to pick up a prescription, I put in my license and 1 $100.00 dollar bill, when I hit send the tube sucked up my money and thru my license aside, so when the girl inside asked if I had sent it I say yes, she said she didn't get it, so she called the manager (Name Withheld) on duty, he tried to open it up, he did find my license and a 1.00 and change, but he couldn't fine my money, but as I said the money flew up because it got sucked up, so they said they would call the manufacturer of the tube machine, so I called yesterday morning and spoke with another manager (Name Witheld) he was the rudest and meanest person I have ever spoke with he said I was cursing because I was saying the Vacuum sucked up my money and he called me a liar, and that they would not call the manufacture because they fix the machine themselves, I tried to explain that it has to be in the ducts in the ceiling and he said they didn't fine anything, I call corporate they didn't want to here it either,

I am really bugged because that is a lot of money for them not to care about,and to treat me like dirt.someone had to have taken it, because I only had a $100.00 bill, so when I did finally get my prescription I had to use my debit card. Please can you help with my problem.

Thanks,

(Name Withheld).

I called the Walgreen's up and found a new manager has taken over the store and didn't hear about the woman's case. The day of my phone call, he was able to cut a refund for the woman even though Walgreen's corporate offices told me the money was never found, even after opening up the tube system.

Considering she claims she's been trying to get her money for months, I gave the woman the benefit of the doubt and believed her.

In the end, Walgreen's acted out of good-faith too despite not finding the cash.
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jeremyjojola.com -- Tip-Line: 505-764-2550 -- jjojola@kob.com

Finding a Goldmine in Silver City

Last night I aired a report about a kickback scheme allegedly involving a state employee, more than half-a-million dollars, and 16 of her friends. You can see the report here.

I found the story thanks to an anonymous tip. It was the perfect kind of tip--it had names and dates and was well written. The tip sounded so outrageous, as I was reading through it, I thought this story must have already been broken by a reporter somewhere, at least in Silver City. The anonymous tipster even wondered why the case hasn't made headlines. I wondered too, considering the number of suspects involved, and the amount of money allegedly stolen.

So I did some simple checking to see if this was all true. I connected to various government websites and found the court case numbers that seemed to be the nuggets of info that would be a goldmine for this story. After about three minutes of checking, my instincts told me something was there.

I called the courthouse in Silver City and managed, after several phone calls, to get some of the documents in the case faxed to me in Albuquerque for a fee of 17 dollars. For the price, I received eight pages, and bingo, there it was: shocking details of a state employee who used her position to steal tax-dollars from her office.

Friends of hers, according to the documents, were made to appear as babysitters to be paid with tax dollars to take care of children from families in need.

Documents describe how the 16 "babysitters" then gave half their checks back to Andrea Munoz, the state employee.

Wow. 16 people with a state employee at the center. Why hasn't this hit the news? The documents even show criminal charges were filed in late April--and here it is...already May.

I called CYFD, and they even wondered why a reporter hasn't called them yet. CYFD seemed to already have been preparing for a phone call from someone in the media. They confirmed everything that was in the court record.

I then went to my news director and we both decided a trip to Silver City was in order. So photographer Jeremy Fine and I left early one morning and spent hours driving until we arrived in town.

We worked fast and hard, driving all over Silver City, knocking on doors, visiting government buildings, and digging up the documents. The story felt so big for us at the time, it seemed we were about to get scooped. I was sure another reporter in the state or somewhere in Silver City was about to publish this online. But we got lucky....and got all the elements we needed to spell this one out.

By the way, I have to say the Silver Cafe in Silver City has the best enchiladas in southwest New Mexico. It's a place that feels like a home kitchen--and the food tastes like it was made in one too.

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jeremyjojola.com
Tip-Line: 505-764-2550
jjojola@kob.com
jeremy.jojola@gmail.com

26 Hours for Three Minutes

On Thursday I aired a story about a state employee accused of stealing tax dollars by using her position at the Children Youth and Families Department.

I'll try to write more about this story later. The station's web link to the story on KOB.com seems to have a temporary technical glitch.

This was one of those stories that took a lot of long hours over a short period of time all for several minutes of broadcast. (About 26 working hours over the past three days I'm guessing.)

Once the KOB.com link works, I'll go into detail how I got the story and more about the challenges of covering it in Silver City.

jeremyjojola.com

A Big Kickback?

Tonight at ten on KOB-TV, I'll be reporting on a huge scam involving more than a dozen people and a state employee.

At the center of the alleged scam is a New Mexico woman who was responsible for helping needy families get financial assistance.

Instead, she's accused of cheating the government by funneling out hundreds of thousands of dollars to herself and other people by using her position as a state employee.

When I was gathering elements for this story, I was surprised no other media outlet in New Mexico picked up the story considering how many people are accused.

The Evolving Role of Reporters

This morning I had an opportunity to explain the nature television news as a panelist during a media forum at the University of New Mexico.

The forum was designed to help professors understand reporters' needs when they cover stories about UNM.

I sat next to Larry Barker of KRQE and Martin Salazar of the Albuquerque Journal in front of professors and other academics. We talked about what our typical day is like, and how we go about covering investigative pieces.


During the forum, I found common ground with Barker and Salazar on things we experience during our day:

1) People will freak out when we call them: An investigative reporter leaving a message on your phone is sometimes frightening and intimidating. Often when I leave a message, people will be afraid to call back, even if I'm just looking for information, and not seeking an interview. It's obviously worse for Barker---the guy is an icon in New Mexico.

2) Most of the tips we get don't really turn out to be stories: Often tips I receive can't be proven because documentation doesn't exist or the story will not appeal to a wide audience. Barker mentioned about 95 of the tips that he gets don't turn out to be stories. On my side, that's very true too. I get loads phone calls and emails from people complaining about "crooked judges" and "police brutality." Those kind of tips are impossible to work with because paper trails don't exist.


I mentioned to the audience that reporters now have multiple deadlines during the day, because of multiple newscasts and the websites that each station operates. Reporters are forced to fill the constant void by turning more stories quickly. As a reporter, I've turned two different stories in the same day.

While a lot of the old-timers disagree with this style of fast-paced journalism, I believe with the right tools, techniques, and knowledge, a reporter can turn a good, fair and accurate story quickly, while meeting the demands news directors, and most importantly, viewers.

Back in the day, reporters were forced to look up public documents by driving to court, finding a parking spot, speaking with the right clerk, flipping through the physical record itself at court, making copies of the documents, and then hitting the road back to the newsroom again. Whew! Talk about time consuming.....

Today, I've taught myself to find the same information in an instant through various court websites, county clerk websites, and other internet databases. You'd be amazed on what I can find on someone if I had a name and birth date.

Using those tools, I can look at multiple court cases, read court pleadings and motions, find criminal cases, peoples' birth-dates, addresses, names--all from my newsroom computer.

What took hours, and sometimes days, can now be found in seconds.

In minutes, I can find out if a business has a pattern of bad behavior or if a day-care has licensing issues within minutes.

The internet is changing journalism techniques just like the telegraph and telephone did.

Given these new "instant" resources, I believe it's possible to turn investigative style pieces faster than ever before. Investigative work still takes time, but not as much time anymore given the information available at my fingertips.

And when I'm looking for information, I get the sense I'm still "digging," but in an electronic atmosphere. And just like the old-school reporters, you've got to know where to park--this time it's on the electronic highway.

Check the Business

Often I get tips from people who've had a bad business deal with a local business in town. Sometimes I'll do some research on that business by checking court documents and the Better Business Bureau to see if there is a pattern of bad business.

It's always good, before you hire a contractor or get involved with a business that requires a large down-payment, to do some checking.

It's quite easy to look up a business's rating through BBB.org. That is usually a good indicator of a business's practice.

Oops!

A Message to Racingsouthwest.com

Here's a note I posted on a racingsouthwest.com forum today:

Given the extraordinary response to last night’s report, I feel it may be of interest to talk about why I mentioned RSW in my report.

I acknowledge your anger. Nothing I can say will make any of you feel better. In fact, what I’m about to explain will probably make all of you even more upset.

I stand by my report.

Here’s why:

I documented video evidence showing RSW meets are contributing to street racing on Paseo. While the meetings are intended for car enthusiasts, it’s quite obvious members of RSW are doing more than “talking about cars.” I saw numerous vehicles with RSW stickers leave the parking lot at Dion’s and race on Paseo over the past month.

The RSW website claims it does “not endorse street racing.” This fact was mentioned in my report. However, as I pointed out in my report, RSW members are using the website as a tool to glorify their illegal street racing under the “Call-outs” and “Street Action” forums.

I found several links on RSW’s website showing video of street racing that also incorporate the RSW logo.

The fact that RSW tolerates such postings seems to show that RSW finds street racing acceptable, even with a disclaimer.

During the past month, I also ate at Dion’s during these meets and overheard RSW members (who were wearing RSW shirts) talk about their illegal races on Paseo, the Crest, Monty, and Tramway.

Many of you have written that illegal racers are the minority and that RSW as a whole is a legitimate organization that promotes legal, safe racing. That may be true, but in reality, that's hard to believe given the behavior of your members at these meets. It’s also not my job to play PR for an organization during a news report.

To put it simply, if some RSW members were not illegally street racing and posting racing videos on RSW, I wouldn't have mentioned RSW.

It's also not my problem if RSW can't control some of it's members, and it's also not my problem if a minority group is making RSW as whole look bad. That's your problem.

Again, I stand by my report.

Jeremy
KOB-TV

Covering Illegal Racing

On Thursday night I aired a report about illegal street racing. You can see the report here.

As expected, my report generated a lot of animosity and disgust on the local racing forums.

On poster even threatened to slash my tires. Negative feedback like this comes with the territory, especially when you question the policies and practices of organizations with multiple, faithful members.

Now on to the next story.......