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.
$300K award to jumpstart internet-aid outreach in Doña Ana, Luna Counties
Why is your internet so slow? Pandemic aid may help to speed up connections across Southern NM
A communications tower, seen in early December in the southern Doña Ana County community of San Miguel, is one way southern New Mexicans access the internet.
Fall and winter viruses active in lower Rio Grande region
Southern NM community of Chaparral had trouble accessing COVID-19 relief funds
Jeff Gore, a longtime resident of Chaparral, says the community is a quiet one that is not trusting of the government or the media. (Photo by Reyes Mata III)
A look at COVID-19 mental health impacts & spending in Southern New Mexico
Columbus, New Mexico resident Lievano Ramirez said the stress of isolating in his home and the uncertainty of living amid a pandemic affected his mental health.
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.
