As the network of digital information grows, news organizations have valuable new tools to be good watchdogs on government and business, the training director for Investigative Reporters and Editors said Saturday at a regional workshop in Santa Fe.

Doug Haddix of IRE said journalists face obstacles, including efforts by some governments to restrict the flow of information.

Haddix, a longtime journalist and former projects editor at The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, said that newsrooms also face staff cuts brought on by the economic downturn. But he urged reporters and editors to redouble their efforts.

That was the purpose of the workshop, said Robin Martin, publisher of The New Mexican, The Taos News and the Sangre de Cristo Chronicle in Angel Fire.

The New Mexican and the state Associated Press Managing Editors co-sponsored the workshop held at the newspaper's downtown offices.

Martin made the workshop free to reporters and editors in the region.

Watchdog reporting serves people and their communities, and informs the public about the value of open-government laws, Martin told the 60 people from New Mexico and Colorado who attended the workshops.