Editor,
I’m constantly amazed at how the Albuquerque Journal consistently misses the boat on great news stories. The Journal has all the resources of a metropolitan newspaper, yet it is all too often filled with shallow beat reporting instead of meaningful, in-depth reportage. In short, the Journal seems to foster complacency in place of responsible journalism.
Why hasn’t the Journal probed more deeply into the two recent Mike Locksley issues? Why let UNM spoon-feed the Journal’s sports section only what UNM chooses to make public? Why hasn’t the University of New Mexico dealt with these two affairs in an unbiased and more responsible manner? Coach Locksley’s tenure with UNM has hardly been a positive experience since he was hired. And why has UNM given the task of investigating the Locksley sexual harassment complaint, and the subsequent assault of a UNM assistant coach, to Athletics Director Paul Krebs, the guy who hired the coach? Talk about the fox being asked to watch the chicken house. Here are some of my questions: 1) How much did it cost UNM to make the harassment charge go away? 2) What will the University pay to keep the former assistant coach quiet? In any other business, Locksley (and probably Krebs) would already have been dismissed. Yet, UNM seems to have glossed over these two ugly affairs by asking its athletics director to deal with the matter. Locksley got a slap-on-the-wrist punishment for sexual harassment — UNM simply reassigned the woman who complained. And for the physical assault, Locksley got 10 days’ suspension. What a joke. This is a great news story and the Journal hasn’t yet delved deeply enough into the matter. Where are the “investigative reporters”?
And why has the sports section done all the reporting? Don’t they have a vested interest in not ruffling the UNM Athletics Department’s feathers? Locksley has already shown he is a chauvinistic pig, a bully and, finally, a loser as a coach. Why should UNM keep him or Krebs for his kid-glove handling of these two serious issues? And, why hasn’t the Journal fully reported on this matter? UNM’s students will most certainly pay the hundreds of thousands of dollars for Locksley’s stupid, unprofessional behavior. And, meanwhile, his football team has already become the laughingstock of the league. I bet there will be a huge cost in future recruiting and financial support because of his historically terrible losing streak. The Journal has some serious journalism ahead before its readers will be satisfied. They can and should do much better.
Tom DeFeo
Daily Lobo reader
