SANTA FE - Thom Cole, who worked for nearly three decades as a newspaper reporter in New Mexico, has been appointed public information officer for the General Services Department, department Secretary Ken Ortiz announced Monday.

Cole most recently was an assistant city editor and investigative reporter for the Santa Fe New Mexican. Prior to that, he spent nearly 25 years with the Albuquerque Journal, most of that time as an investigative reporter specializing in government and politics.