Max Grossman sent this in:
I am extremely pleased to report that Aaron Montes, one of the most driven and talented local investigative reporters in modern memory, has announced that he has been appointed Government Reporter of the El Paso Times. The new hire could not come at a better time. A few months ago our venerable daily lost veteran reporters Elida Perez and Aileen Flores, and we just learned that the Austin correspondent, Madlin Mekelberg, resigned in order to work for the Austin Statesman.
Aaron distinguished himself at the El Paso Inc as an excellent journalist, investigating issues that many of his colleagues in the media refused to touch. As the only El Paso Times reporter specifically assigned to our City and County, we can be certain that the public will be better informed than ever before. I have no doubt that Aaron’s reports will serve as a strong check against government overreach and corruption.
Congratulations Aaron!
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Now the question is “will the Times allow him to report what he knows or will they censor him?”
We deserve better
Brusut
elpasospeak 
They will let him do exactly what they allowed his predecessors to do- report on items they assign and keep him away from the more contentious items.
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Amen!
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did he write a story about how the former mayor, Leeser, bought Cortney Niland’s home so she could move away in the middle of an investigation into their behavior regarding the open meetings act? If not, then he is no better than any other “reporter” in el paso.
turning a blind eye to bad behavior seems to be a virtue around here, and asking questions of local politicians seems to be strictly controlled to only “nice” questions.
not a single local “journalist” has ever asked, for example, Veronica Escobar, a single tough question, or John Cook (who famously broke the law immediately after leaving office trying to lobby for Doubletree, was warned by city attorney, and then nothing else was ever said about the public misdeed) or any other of the politically beloved politicians.
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Thank you for this. Amazing how Escobar rolled into office without any need to express her views on, say, Medicare for All, or the wars in the middle east, or NAFTA, or…she’s the first Latina from Texas, that’s all you need to know! And now the Times hands Cook and Wilson space to tell us all how perfect they were and no criticism of that bond issue is warranted…etc. Enough!
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The Times is quick to tout the hatchet job done at EPISD and on former Superintendent Larry Garcia, however that was after the hatchet job on Elliot Shapley. When the dust cleared, where were the hatchet jobs on the Mayors, City Council Members, County Commissioners, City or County Administration, Veronica Escobar? No, the power elite tolerate no criticism, and the Times would never oppose them.
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The Times is rarely adversarial or independent when it comes to government or the Usual Suspects machinations. I only hope that some bright young UTEP grads will see the opportunity for real independent political journalism in El Paso and step up to the challenge. Of course, I don’t think they’ll get much advertising as the business community is scared shitless of the above.
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🙂 🙂 🙂
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Freedom for the Press Reporter
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