Skip to content

Restoring NM Rivers; UNM Signs Check for Coach Eck

This week on New Mexico in Focus, two environmental experts tell us why they are pushing state officials to invest more heavily in river restoration. Correspondent Elizabeth Miller sits down with Dan Roper, an advocate from nonprofit Trout Unlimited, and docuseries filmmaker Renea Roberts, to talk about the importance of caring for our rivers.  

The 2025 New Mexico Local News Ecosystem Report includes a first-of-its-kind interactive map that includes details about nearly every newsroom in our state. Host Nash Jones recently met with the three people who put the report together to discuss their project and how the map also shows the state’s many news deserts. 

The University of New Mexico signed head football coach Jason Eck to a new five-year contract worth up to $8 million and change, making him the highest paid public employee in state history. To learn more about the first-year coach and the historic check the university signed, Lou breaks it all down with Albuquerque Journal sportswriter Sean Reider.  

A short student documentary, “La Planta,” tells the story of a local Latino organization that promotes veganism among Mexican and Mexican American communities. Lou spoke with two of the student documentarians about their work. 


Host: Nash Jones

Segments: 
How NM Can Do More to Restore Its Rivers 
Correspondent: Elizabeth Miller 
Guests: Dan Roper, Advocate, Trout Unlimited 
Renea Roberts, Filmmaker, “Thinking Like Water” docuseries 

Mapping New Mexico’s Newsrooms 
Host: Nash Jones 
Guests: Gwyneth Doland, UNM Professor and New Mexico in Focus Contributor 
Michael Marcotte, Journalism Consultant 
Rashad Mahmood, Executive Director, New Mexico Local News Fund 

UNM Signs Check for Coach Eck 
Correspondent: Lou DiVizio 
Guest: Sean Reider, Sportswriter, Albuquerque Journal 

Student Documentary Explores Vegan Mexican Cuisine 
Correspondent: Lou DiVizio 
Guests: Jovana Flores, UNM Student Filmmaker and Director, “La Planta” 
Matt Finlay, UNM Student Filmmaker, “La Planta”