Frost McGahey, Investigative Reporter.
On October 7, 2024, the editor of the Grant County Beat received the following email:
From: Jennie Becerra
Subject: Question RE: Public Notification-Full Disclosure
Good afternoon, I am writing to inquire about your paper’s practice in reference to notifying the public when an author of an article has a private interest in the information being published. I have noted a number of negative articles published in your paper by Frost McGahey. I have not noticed any type of commentary advising the public that this reporter or “investigative journalist” has a private interest in speaking poorly of the current D.A.
The reporter is identified on the Secretary of State website as being a top contributor to the campaign of the current D.A.’s opponent. I believe in order to be viewed as a reputable source of information, your paper should make the public aware of this information. Failure to do so is contrary to the Professional Journalism Code of Ethics, which, in turn, makes your paper appear nothing more than propaganda.
Respectfully,
A Concerned Private Citizen
From McGahey:
She is correct that I have donated to Norm Wheeler’s campaign. But I didn’t start writing the articles until after I met with Norm on January 27th to do a candidate interview. He told me that cases had plummeted, and 27* people in the attorney’s office had left or been forced out under Renteria’s management. This news horrified me so much that I donated to Norm’s campaign.
I also realized that no one else was covering this story. After getting permission from my editor, I started investigating the situation. A press release from the Silver City Police Officer’s Association also confirmed the dramatic fall in cases. My first article was published February 12th.**
Ms. Becerra is the human resource manager for Mr. Renteria and makes $112,034. Mr. Renteria makes $161,159.
In upcoming articles, I will continue to detail Renteria’s failure as a district attorney.
* As of last week, 33 people have left the DA’s office.
** Criminal cases plummet under District Attorney Michael Renteria (grantcountybeat.com)