In late March, New Mexico’s largest newspaper ran a story about how 2020 set records for oil and gas production in the state: More fossil fuels were pumped out of the ground last year than ever before. The Albuquerque Journal story, published in a weekly stand-alone business section, quoted a pair of company owners and an industry spokesperson. The original story was rewritten and repackaged by other outlets both in and outside of New Mexico. Join our email list to get the stories that mainstream news is overlooking. The story proved popular with the industry. On the day it was published, the state’s most prominent oil and gas lobbying group put the story on its website and social media platforms and followed up with posts of how petroleum revenues pay for so much of the state’s budget.