New Mexico Newsrooms Increase Community Engagement as Society Opens Up

Local news publishers are planning more in-person events this fall as prospects increase for engagement and fundraising

Girls Inc. anniversary party live-streamed by the Santa Fe New Mexican

The lockdowns that were widespread in New Mexico last year have now eased, meaning that people are more willing to meet up in person. That also means that local news publishers that had to postpone or produce events online are now considering in-person events this fall. Our cohort of grantees at the New Mexico Local News Fund’s Revenue Initiative have been starting to come out of their pandemic shells.

The Questa Del Rio News and Sierra County Sun both had booths at open-air markets in their towns to help promote their news outlets. Radio KTAL and Searchlight New Mexico are planning in-person fundraisers this fall. The Sierra County Sun is moving forward with a series of in-person panel discussions called “Chill Out Fridays” this fall. And the Santa Fe New Mexican has started producing “hybrid” events with an in-person component and online element for those who can’t attend. One example was the Girls Inc. 66th Anniversary Celebration on June 25.

There have been some other key milestones from our grantees as we reach the half-way point in our Revenue Initiative grant program. Sierra County Sun and Questa Del Rio News joined the Institute for Nonprofit News, and Questa and Columbus NM News joined LION Publishers. The Hidalgo County Herald broke an important story about the FBI raiding the Lordsburg Police Department and local corruption.

Here’s a rundown of the 10 newsrooms participating in the Revenue Initiative this year, and their updated plans for the rest of the grant period:

Camino Real Media (Spanish-language newspaper in Southern New Mexico):

• Distributing newspapers with food boxes that are handed out to those in need.
• Offering Spanish translation of stories from other news outlets.

Columbus NM News (online news startup)

• Planning to sell advertisements to local businesses.
• Working on a new sponsored content column with recipes.

Downtown Albuquerque News (subscription email newsletter):

• Produced two new videos to promote subscriptions on Facebook.
• Hired freelancers to help cover more topics and give the publisher some breathing room.

Hidalgo County Herald (weekly newspaper in Lordsburg):

• Broke an important corruption story about local police.
• Planning to launch a live-streaming service covering local sports.

KTAL Radio (community radio in Las Cruces):

• Partnering with New Mexico State University’s Center for Community Analysis to produce audio reports based on data points about Dona Ana County.
• Planning an open house in the fall and potential in-person fundraiser.

Questa Del Rio News (monthly newspaper in Questa):

• Readying a launch of a new website with a donation page.
• Planning to run a NewsMatch fundraising campaign in the fall.

Santa Fe New Mexican (daily newspaper):

• Created a new content studio to give advertisers rich sponsored content.
• Boosting subscriptions using a targeted database for its audience.

Searchlight New Mexico (online nonprofit):

• Launched a new tiered membership program with help from News Revenue Hub.
• Planning an in-person fundraiser at a Santa Fe gallery this fall.

Sierra County Sun (online nonprofit in Truth or Consequences):

• Hired an editorial intern to help expand reporting.
• Planning a series of in-person “Chill Out Friday” events in the fall.

The Independent (weekly newspaper in Edgewood):

• Going back to the office, with some rotating art shows later this summer.
• Launching a new membership program with perks for members.

Meanwhile, our bi-weekly cohort meetings on Zoom have continued, with guest speakers such as Mary Walter-Brown of News Revenue Hub talking about audience surveys, Jimmy Martinez of Report for America discussing fundraising, and Bob Moore from El Paso Matters talking about Spanish translations. In our second half of the program, we’ll discuss memberships, diversity, events and texting your audience.

And we’ve also been testing out the Project ECHO framework for our meetings. That means it’s an “all teach, all learn” system where everyone teaches each other in some way. We’re also surveying participants, and adjusting the format of the meetings as we go along. And finally, we are trying to track how grantees use what they learn at the meetings in their day-to-day work — what’s our real impact?

It’s been great getting to know this diverse group of local newsrooms around New Mexico, and as things open up more, I look forward to actually meeting some of them in person in the coming months. Stay tuned for another update here on the program when it wraps up in October!

Mark Glaser is the Innovation Consultant for the New Mexico Local News Fund. He is also an Associate at Dot Connector Studio, and was the founder and executive editor of MediaShift.org.