Heat City

Bill Richardson

Of the many blogs written by outside contributors to the Arizona Republic’s website, Bill Richardson’s was perhaps the most critical of the region’s police and their practices.

Now, the retired Mesa police officer says the the state’s largest newspaper has given in to outside pressure from those who wanted his criticism silenced. The newspaper closed down his blog, deleted all his old posts and blocked him from even commenting elsewhere on its website.

Pat McReynolds

Heat City was hoping to get its hands on a nice, colorful police report about the attack on a Phoenix television news crew earlier this week. But we found out Friday it’s not going to happen.

It turns out the KPHO (Channel 5) crew never pressed charges against the man who threw some large rocks at them Wednesday while they were on assignment in Casa Grande.

File it under the dangers of being a journalist. In this must-watch video, Phoenix television news reporter Pat McReynolds and a videographer dodge rocks being thrown at them by a man they were hoping to interview.

I was pleasantly surprised Thursday to see a message on Twitter from Phoenix PR pro Charlotte Shaff, telling me some good news: “Congrats, Nick on your recognition by Phoenix Magazine!”

Turns out the editors over at Phoenix magazine named me the best blogger in the Valley for my work here on Heat City. Here’s what they wrote in their annual Best of the Valley issue:

Well, that was fast. My stint with the Arizona Guardian, the startup website covering politics and news from the state Capitol, has come to a end sooner than any of us expected.

We parted ways amicably last week, about a month and a half into my tenure there. In that time, I wrote a few good stories, offered some ideas on technology/social media and got to work with some seriously talented journalists.

Starting this week, my work will be appearing regularly on the political news site, the Arizona Guardian. The specifics are still being worked out, but the broad outline was hatched over the long Fourth of July weekend. I’ll be covering a number of political races as well as helping the Guardian grow as a company. This is a great opportunity to work with a fledgling company that has a bright future.

Yes, the Guardian is a paid-subscription site, which means you’ll have to pony up some cash to read it. You may remember I wrote a fairly in-depth profile about the company last year in Phoenix magazine. At the time, I said it was too expensive for most people, but the company’s target readers — lobbyists, lawyers and politicians — were often willing to pay the price because it gives them the kind of news they need for success.

That model has worked for the Guardian so far. Now, the founders are hoping to build on that accomplishment. They are open to new ideas and experiments, and that’s where I’ll be playing a role. What does that mean specifically? I’ll let you know once we figure it out.

Heat City will still be here. This site will remain a place for me to write stories that don’t have a home anywhere else. The only difference now is that my political (and sometimes legal) stories will be appearing in the Arizona Guardian.

As a special offer for readers of Heat City, the Guardian is also offering a 60 percent discount to new subscribers. This means individual readers can get access for just $12 a month (down from $30) and businesses, such as law firms, news organizations and creative agencies, can give all their employees access for just $60 a month (down from $150). When you sign up, simply enter the coupon code heatcity for your discount.

Finally, if you’ve been one of the generous people who has financially supported Heat City over the past year and a half, we are planning something special for you. Look for it in your email box over the next week.

Thank you to the Arizona Press Club, which awarded my work here on Heat City as well as in Phoenix Magazine with big honors in Saturday’s Best Journalism in Arizona contest.

Heat City won first place for breaking news in the Best in Arizona category for a series of exclusive stories about the arrests of two white supremacists suspected in the 2004 bombing of Scottsdale’s diversity office. Thanks to a source’s tip last June, I was able to break news of the arrests hours before any of the major local newspapers or wire services could catch up. Then I came back with two more stories about the fallout. (See links to stories below.)

Randy Miller

The new publisher of the East Valley Tribune, Randy Miller, is expected to announce any day now that the Mesa newspaper, which was on the brink of closure just six months ago, is profitable again.

At a Wednesday staff meeting, Miller told his employees the good news and promised to talk to any outside journalist who wishes to interview him about the success. Any journalist, that is, except for yours truly.

According to multiple sources inside the newspaper, Miller told staffers he has blacklisted me from any interviews, presumably because he doesn’t like my coverage of the Tribune’s financial woes before he bought it or my stories about the massive cuts he made when taking over.

Something has Mark Casey a little rattled. And no wonder.

The news director of KPNX (Channel 12) in Phoenix, Casey told viewers Friday that his staff has become the target of threats during the past two weeks as the debate over immigration moved to the forefront with the signing of the state’s new immigration law.

“Yes, we have received threats of violence against us and against individuals on all sides of the issue,” Casey wrote in a letter posted on the station’s website.

The new owner of the East Valley Tribune had some surprising news for readers this morning: “We’re back to being a locally owned newspaper.”

Publisher Randy Miller wrote the line in a front-page message printed just a day after he finally closed a deal to buy the Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper from media giant Freedom Communications.

Problem is, Miller isn’t local. He’s from Colorado. And the company he partnered with to buy the Tribune, 1013 Communications, is headquartered in Reno, Nev.