Southern New Mexico Event Report
The New Mexico Local News Fund brought together dozens of residents, journalists, nonprofit leaders and policymakers June 26, 2025, for an important conversation on the challenges – and possible solutions – surrounding local news across the southern region of our state. The community discussion, hosted at the historic Fountain Theatre in Mesilla, also spotlighted the role of public media in serving Southern New Mexico, a largely rural, border region. The event ran from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. and capped off with a mixer and appetizers.
Newsrooms across Southern New Mexico have been particularly hard-hit by the erosion of staffing in newspapers, digital and broadcast news stations. And many Latino and rural communities were never fully served even in times marked by more robust numbers of journalists. Residents are increasingly turning to social media to fill the voids of credible information, with mixed results. The overall impact is disempowerment of Southern New Mexicans, who can’t always find credible sources of information to meet their needs. Civic engagement, community identity and informed decision-making all suffer as a result.
In hosting the afternoon event, New Mexico Local News Fund sought to kickstart discussion around these topics, hear firsthand about the problems residents are experiencing, generate solutions to the challenges, and raise the public profile of the conversations around local news moving forward.
Nearly 50 people attended the community conversation, a mix of keynote speakers, panelists and back-and-forth dialogue with attendees. The event drew some journalists from Albuquerque and Santa Fe, as well as drew a few movers and shakers from the El Paso, Texas, local news scene. Two state lawmakers, Rep. Doreen Gallegos and Sen. Jeff Steinborn, attended. Sen. Steinborn was among four panelists who weighed in on issues facing local news. A field representative for U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján attended but was not among the presenters or panelists.
Launching the afternoon’s discussion were Mike Marcotte, journalism professor emeritus at the University of New Mexico, and Gwyneth Doland, journalism professor of practice at UNM, who are co-directing a mapping project to assess the statewide local news landscape. They’ve carried out surveys of newsrooms statewide and hosted community conversations in different regions of the state to gauge residents’ thoughts, attitudes and opinions about local news in their areas.
As part of the mapping projects, residents expressed a need for more Spanish-language local news, more news in readily digestible social media formats with links to more in-depth content. Other insights include:
In an on-stage interview led by Las Cruces Sun-News Editor Jessica Onsurez, KRWG Public Media’s Anthony Moreno, outgoing director of content for the station, reflected on his 12-year tenure at the multi-media station. Moreno was initially attracted to Southern New Mexico because of its diverse geography, unique culture and proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border, which he found intriguing. He shared some of the notable stories he and the station have covered: the importance of a community park in the colonia of Chaparral, the 2024 wildfires that devastated Ruidoso, and the 2025 mass shooting at a Las Cruces park. He said he’s seen firsthand the staffing challenges a small newsroom faces.
“My first 10 years at the KRWG Public Media, I think we were fully staffed probably three of those years. So that's not something that's uncommon in our region.”
Moreno has also witnessed the changes in audience expectations, most notably a move toward on-demand content on the station’s website and social media platforms. One of the station’s biggest strengths, he said, is being in touch with the communities it serves. That engages its audience and cultivates trust. He said the station is accountable to its audience, as well. He noted public media journalists tend to have more time to tell in-depth news stories other newsrooms can’t tell due to time constraints.
As for the discussed financial cuts to public media, Moreno said “those could lead to tough decisions on what we're able to bring and share with the community.”
For more insights on Moreno’s career in Las Cruces, see this KRWG program dedicated to his work.
