NMiF Hearkens Back to The Line to Hash Out the Primary Election

If you’re a longtime New Mexico in Focus viewer, you’ve no doubt noticed a shift in how we produce the show over the last few years and the kinds of segments we feature. You may even have strong feelings about it one way or another. I received an email from one such viewer over the weekend lamenting the end of The Line, an opinion panel segment that used to make up the bulk of our program. I’ve also heard from people who applaud the shift we’ve made under the leadership of Executive Producer Jeff Proctor, some who’ve returned to watching the show after some time away, or who started watching regularly for the first time because of it. But since I know this displeased viewer is not without her allies, I wanted to share part of my response to her:

“Our thinking behind the new approach, which actually began well before I joined the team, was to move away from opinion and toward vetted news and news analysis. While the back-and-forth may be less consistently lively in your opinion, I can assure you the information the guests share is more consistently accurate. And when it’s not, as you saw in the gubernatorial candidate interviews, we fact-check it. I believe accurate news is a better public service for a public broadcaster to offer — especially in an era chock full of influencers, bloggers and podcasters — than opinions.

Additionally, as compared to The Line, when a steady cast of characters would be asked to discuss a long list of hot topics, our more varied guests today are experts on the topics they’re discussing. I believe that also adds value to the conversations we bring you with them.

Finally, bolstering news and downplaying opinions is also more in line with the professional experience of our current slate of producers, including myself.”

I also let this viewer know that, despite all this, she was in luck this week. Our team does still believe there’s a time and place for a group of sharp, engaged, opinionated locals to gather around the table and hash out a big news story. The days following an election being an ideal one.

So, this week, we welcome back two longtime regulars on The Line — former Democratic state Senator Dede Feldman and public relations executive Merritt Allen — for a lively conversation about their takeaways from Tuesday’s primary elections and what they think will matter come November (spoiler: it’s not the candidates’ policy positions).

While that makes up a good chunk of this week’s show, we also round it out with a bit of what we do best these days. I sit down with Source New Mexico Reporter Danielle Prokop to get the details of a news story she’s been following for years that just had a big development. The U.S. Supreme Court accepted an agreement over the Rio Grande Compact last week, settling 13 years of litigation surrounding how New Mexico and Texas share the river’s water. Prokop catches us up on what happened, what it means and how we got here. We’ll also take you into the field with Indigenously Positive, NMPBS’ award-winning collaboration with nonprofit news organization New Mexico In Depth, to explore the healing power of skateboarding in Native American communities.

NMiF can’t please everyone all the time, but tonight’s episode may get close. Join us for a spirited post-election opinion panel, news about a consequential Supreme Court decision straight out of a reporter’s notebook, and a trip out of the studio to learn about something joyful happening in our community.

-Nash Jones, Host