Daily Lobo staffers receive help to cover MW tourneys
Matthew Narvaiz remembers falling asleep with the Daily Lobo’s GoFundMe goal of $1,500 so close. He woke up the next day with a smile.
The Daily Lobo reached its goal within two days of creating a page that raised money to send three staffers to cover the Mountain West Conference men’s and women’s basketball tournaments in Las Vegas, Nev.
“It’s just amazing that people still support journalism,” said Narvaiz, a 21-year-old who is in his third year at University of New Mexico as a Multimedia Journalism major with a minor in English. “Just to have the chance to go to Vegas to cover the tournament, it’s going to be life-changing. I’m really appreciative of it.”
Narvaiz is in Las Vegas with Cameron Goeldner. Robert Maler, the Daily Lobo sports
editor, joins them on Thursday.
Goeldner, who writes and takes photos, created the GoFundMe page on Feb. 26. He knew there otherwise would not be enough money to send anyone to Vegas to cover the tournament.
Within a couple days the money raised reached nearly $1,700. Then they moved the goal to $2,000 to help cover more expenses, with flights and a six-night stay in Las Vegas. Anything raised more than $2,000, they say, will be saved for future staffers and their aspirations to travel. As of Monday afternoon, $2,000 was raised.
The Daily Lobo relies on advertising and a portion of student fees for expenses. The trio is well aware of the difficulties of the newspaper business, but they would like to become sportswriters after UNM.
“The biggest thing I’ve been told is to keep working and keep producing the best I can and I’ll be able to find something regardless how the landscape changes,” said Goeldner, 19, who is also a Multimedia Journalism major. “I’m feeling better about the business.”
Goeldner is grateful for all who donated and helped, including Geoff Grammer of the Albuquerque Journal and Mike Burt of 101.7 FM.
Grammer, who covers UNM men’s basketball for the Journal, is on the board for the Rio Grande Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He said he is in the process of creating a grant starting next year, for which the sports staffs of the Daily Lobo and The Round Up at his alma mater New Mexico State can apply to cover costs of attending future conference or NCAA Tournament games.
“It’s really bad to see them cover the Lobos all year and then not be able to cover the conference tournament,” Grammer said. “They have a special place in my heart. I wanted to help them if I could.”
Grammer, who was editor of The Round Up while at NMSU, is an advocate of student journalism. He called people to help with money and also promoted the GoFundMe page on Twitter.
To everyone’s surprise, a comical donation came in: $52 from “Jimmer Fredette.” It was in fact a BYU supporter who donated the $52 to match the 52 points Fredette scored against UNM in a conference tournament game in 2011.
Maler is excited to join Narvaiz and Goeldner in Las Vegas. He’s a 38-year-old senior who works as an Air Force contractor at Kirtland AFB and describes himself as a nontraditional student.
Maler is working on two majors, Mechanical Engineering and Broadcast Journalism. He says that sports are his passion. His son, Anthony Rodriguez, is a freshman at NMSU and his daughter, Destiny Maler, attends Cleveland High in her senior year. Because of work commitments, Maler won’t be able to leave for Las Vegas until Thursday, when the men play. Narvaiz and Goeldner will write a game story each night the Lobos play and also plan to produce feature stories.
“My goal was to get Cameron and Matthew out there,” Maler said. “Once we could do that, I wanted to get myself included. It’s really amazing the support we have received. I thank everyone for the outpouring of support. It was really heartwarming.”