This study was commissioned in response to a proposal by University of New Mexico Professor of Practice in Journalism, Gwyneth Doland Parker, and by former UNM Professor of Practice in Journalism, Michael Marcotte. It was funded in two parts, by the UNM Center for Regional Studies, and by the New Mexico Chapter of Press Forward working in partnership with the New Mexico Local News Fund. The goal was to document who is providing local news to New Mexicans and to better understand what that news entails and how communities are using it and valuing it.

The news producer survey involved compiling an initial list of 335 media outlets in New Mexico (or serving New Mexico) by consulting existing lists (MuckRack, NM Local News Fund, UNM, Cision, PR lists, and word-of-mouth). Of these, 31 were found to be closed or sold, resulting in a target list of 304 active outlets. 

In the fall of 2024, we built and tested an online survey -- borrowing some language and approaches from similar studies -- resulting in 40 questions examining various aspects of each outlet’s local news presence, including platform, revenue sources, staffing, ownership, business model, content approach, audience size and focus, geographic reach, contact information and leads to other local news outlets we might not know about. (See News Producer Survey Instrument.)

Invites were issued by email to our target list beginning in November 2024. Subsequent invites were issued by email, telephone outreach, social media, and industry events concluding in April 2025. 

Of the 194 responses filed, 120 surveys were suitable for analysis.

Our research team fielded a statewide online survey from early February to late May, 2025. The survey was designed to understand New Mexicans’ access to sources of local news as well as their opinions and preferences about it. The survey included questions about preferred platforms, most important issues or topics, use of social media, willingness to pay for news, and an open-ended question to recall actual names of trusted news sources. We also documented basic demographic information.

The 35-question instrument borrowed from similar reports. (Notably influential was  the Wyoming Local News Fund and Impact Architects January 2025 report.) After customizing, the questionnaire was administered through the web-based survey and research platform Qualtrics.

Our distribution process involved open invitations to all residents of New Mexico 18 and older. While we engaged several market research firms about scientific sampling, we found that none could guarantee us enough responses to achieve demographic precision per the five regions we targeted, at a price we could afford. Thus we opted to distribute the survey via word-of-mouth, ads, flyers, social media, events, email and other means that would reach the largest possible sample. We included a basic website with a survey landing page and translated most of our materials into English and Spanish. Our cadre of student researchers helped spread the word via their social media accounts, including viral videos. We also encouraged participants in our focus groups to spread the word.  The campaign invitations explained the purpose of the research and asked for participation. An incentive to participate was offered, resulting in the awarding of two Apple iPads after the survey was closed.

A total of 1,146 respondents completed the survey providing demographic data and zip code location. Our respondents’ locations tended to favor central and north central New Mexico. So, to better reflect the population of the state, we used a weighting process to adjust our sample according to U.S. Census data from 2020. While we initially explored weighting by race, income and education -- we settled on weighting only by race to maximize sample size and minimize data impact. This resulted in a 95% confidence level for our statewide findings. Our maximum weight applied was 26.90, with a mean of 7.85, and a median of 5.75. No trimming was applied as untrimmed weights did not exceed problematic thresholds.  This still results in some higher margins-of-error for analysis involving subsets of data, thus we tried to minimize the use of regional breakouts in the report.

Lastly, we added another sorting rubric to help distinguish between urban and non-urban residents. This method coded those residents from the four metropolitan statistical areas of NM as “urban” — and everyone outside of those as “non-urban.” (The four MSA’s include seven counties -- ABQ metro: Bernalillo, Sandoval, Torrance and Valencia; Las Cruces metro: Doña Ana; Farmington Metro: San Juan; Santa Fe metro: Santa Fe). The urban designation accounts for two-thirds of the state population. 

To complement the survey data, our team conducted five focus groups across New Mexico between April 29 and May 15, 2025. These focus groups were designed to: 

• Add context to survey results

• Generate community-driven recommendations for improving local news access

• Gather community-specific information about strengths in the information ecosystem

We held one focus group in each of the five regions of the state, as defined by local demographic research experts Research and Polling, Inc. (see map).

• Central New Mexico: in Albuquerque at public television station KNME-TV on the UNM campus

• North Central New Mexico: in Española at the Española Public Library

• Eastern New Mexico: in Roswell on the campus of Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell

• Southwestern New Mexico: in Las Cruces at public television station KRWG on the campus of New Mexico State University

• Northwestern New Mexico: at Three Rivers Brewery on Main Street in Farmington

Our target population was New Mexico adults aged 18 and older with a demonstrated interest in improving access to civic information in their communities. Our primary recruitment strategy was through the survey, which included a question allowing for further contact.

The team also recruited through organizations whose members would likely have insights into local news needs, including:

• Press Forward New Mexico partners (Santa Fe Community Foundation, Albuquerque Community Foundation, Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico, McCune Charitable Trust and Thornburg Foundation)

• Media-related civic organizations including The New Mexico Scholastic Press Association, media literacy groups and public librarians

• Industry and professional associations, including local chambers of commerce and the New Mexico Cattlegrowers Association

• Community advocacy organizations (such as Americans for Indian Opportunity and the Southwest Organizing Project)

• Civic institutions (neighborhood associations, higher education institutions and county extension offices)

These in-person focus groups, averaging around 12 participants, were moderated by Gwyneth Doland Parker in private meeting rooms to encourage open discussion. Each meeting lasted approximately two hours from arrival to departure, with 60-90 minutes of actual facilitated discussion.The sessions were video recorded for research accuracy and transcription purposes. Research team members also took detailed written notes during each session. Each participant was offered a $50 gift card in recognition of their time and contribution to the research.

Concurrent with the survey, in the spring of 2025, we tasked our cadre of student researchers to examine the online, on-air, print or social media presence of all 304 active outlets in our database. The students augmented our survey efforts by documenting all outlet web links and social media links. They also conducted an initial content analysis to code for key dimensions of local news service. 

The content analysis used a rubric to quantify and qualify available evidence of local news services. They coded for: Frequency and Volume of Local News, Local Staffing and Spending Commitment, Content Originality, Content Depth, Community Representation, and Community Engagement.  (See Content Analysis Coding Instructions.) All student work was cross-checked by the project co-directors.

The content analysis resulted in the exclusion of 165 media outlets from our working database of active local news outlets. These were all judged to have no local news commitment, or, in our professional opinion, their content did not meet the basic criteria: 1) having published a minimum of substantial local news content in the past 30 days (at least one article of at least 300 words, or a comparable video or audio report); 2) having produced original content, not syndicated or aggregated from elsewhere; 3) having met basic journalistic standards of reported stories that are gathered from reported sources, attributing facts, documents, quotes and indicating verification (thus not reissuing press releases); 4) and having content that meets relevant interests of the local community (i.e., not national in scope). 

In several cases, the project directors contacted outlets to clarify their understanding of their news services. All in all, four of the excluded outlets who had responded to our survey were removed from further analysis. One outlet was found to have closed between the start of the survey and the publication of this report. Our content review also resulted in the isolation of five news-related opinion blogs.

To report our content analysis, the project directors attached a “Community Impact Level” to each outlet in our final database. This rating, between 1-3, uses 2 as a basic benchmark for reliability, credibility, and notable quality. Those outlets between 1-2 have merit and are included on the map, while those rated between 2-3 can be seen as displaying stronger service. Moreover, each outlet was given a brief summary description for inclusion on the map.

Our final refined database of local news outlets consists of 139 outlets, 115 of which provided survey responses. In the case of broadcasters who have a central service that is repeated via multiple transmitters, we map only the central station and note their additional outlets in our summary. Similarly, if an owner is creating more than one local news outlet, branding them distinctly, we have mapped those separately.