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Southern New Mexico Journalism Collaborative

We are a partnership of local news organizations covering — with a solutions-based lens— topics of importance to southern New Mexicans.

The Rebuild: How Southern NM Recovers from the Pandemic

In 2022, the Southern New Mexico Journalism Collaborative launched a project to cover stories related to the pandemic and recovery — everything from health and mental health impacts to high-speed internet access.

We’re looking at these issues from a solutions-based reporting model, in which responses to social challenges, like the pandemic, are critically examined. We seek to better connect and engage with communities, especially those under-served in local news, across the southern half of the state. Here are the latest stories.

Deadline looms for verifying internet speeds across Southern NM
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Deadline looms for verifying internet speeds across Southern NM

PHOTO: A poster advertising satellite-based internet service is seen Dec. 9, 2022 in the farming community of La Mesa, 17 miles south of Las Cruces on N.M. Hwy. 28. New Mexicans face a Friday, Jan. 13 deadline to verify their internet speeds on a federal broadband map – a step that will be key to getting funding for faster internet in the future. (By Diana Alba Soular/ Southern New Mexico Journalism Collaborative)

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What is Solutions-Based Journalism?

The concept of solutions-based journalism starts with an understanding that, historically, journalists have devoted too much attention to social problems — but without comparable attention to the possible solutions to those problems. This can lead to a false sense of hopelessness — a belief that progress in addressing society’s most pressing challenges just isn’t possible. In an attempt to counter that long-practiced (and misguided) trend, journalists across the world are embracing a refreshed approach — solutions-based journalism — to critically examine solutions that are being applied, whether in their own communities or elsewhere.

Not every news story produced by the Southern New Mexico Journalism Collaborative is a solutions story, but many of them are! And we believe this dynamic approach will help to change the conversation around local news; improve equity, diversity and sustainability in the practice of journalism; and strengthen ties with audiences across southern New Mexico — for the betterment of our region.