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.
Las Cruces Sun-News examines key industries & jobs, as pandemic nears end of third year
COVID’s lasting impact, as seen by a funeral home attendant
Challenges to NM kids’ well-being illuminated in yearly ‘Kids Count’ report
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)
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.
