The 2026 State of the Local Media Special
This week on New Mexico in Focus, we celebrate Independence Day with our annual “State of Local Media” special. But before we do so, we provide an update on a bombshell news story that broke late last month, detailing whistleblower allegations that the federal Drug Enforcement Administration permitted hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills into Albuquerque in pursuit of bigger cases. This week, top city, county and state officials, including Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, called for accountability.
We begin our media special with a two-part conversation with Bill Church about the two publications he oversees: the Santa Fe New Mexican and Searchlight New Mexico. First, Executive Producer Jeff Proctor asks Church how the New Mexican is expanding, at a time when newspapers are supposed to be dying. Then, Church is joined at the table with Searchlight editor Ed Williams as the two talk to Jeff about the future of the newly acquired investigative news site.
Publisher Lindsey Wood is in the business of neighborhood news. She owns and operates the Nob Hill News, the North Valley News and the International District News. Wood tells Host Nosh Jones why her hyperlocal news model could be replicated nationwide.
Southern New Mexico reporter Damien Willis is a one-man news organization. As the founder, editor and lone staff writer at the Organ Mountain News, Willis talks to Nash about the Doña Ana County news site, and the work he’s done to both listen to and inform his readers.
Host: Nash Jones
Segments:
DEA Fentanyl “Walking” Sparks Outrage
Correspondent: Nash Jones
Santa Fe New Mexican Flourishes in Dire Time for Print News
Correspondent: Jeff Proctor
Guest: Bill Church, Executive Editor, Santa Fe New Mexican
Nob Hill News and Neighborhood Journalism
Correspondent: Nash Jones
Guest: Lindsay Wood, Publisher, Nob Hill News
Searchlight New Mexico’s Second Life
Correspondent: Jeff Proctor
Guests: Bill Church, Executive Director, Searchlight New Mexico
Ed Williams, Investigations Editor, Searchlight New Mexico
Organ Mountain News and Journalism in Southern NM
Correspondent: Nash Jones
Guest: Damien Willis, Founder and Editor, Organ Mountain News