Around the country, community news funds are being established to provide ongoing support for local news outlets and to coordinate additional funding and newsroom collaboration.

The Thornburg Foundation and New Mexico Local News Fund are raising funds to launch Press Forward New Mexico to offer philanthropic leaders, civic-minded individuals, and regional foundations the opportunity to pool their dollars to support a robust network of independent news outlets that are serving the information needs of New Mexico’s diverse communities. 

Press Forward New Mexico philanthropic supporters include the Santa Fe Community Foundation, Albuquerque Community Foundation and New Mexico Foundation.

The Opportunity

Dozens of independent media outlets serve the varied information needs and interests of New Mexico’s diverse towns, cities and neighborhoods. They range from storied alt-weeklies such as Santa Fe Reporter, to digital nonprofits such as Source New Mexico, to public media outlets such as KRWG in Las Cruces, to locally owned newspapers such as the Rio Grande Sun and Questa Del Rio News. Many of these outlets have been part of the Local News Accelerator program run by the Local News Fund, along with our annual Matching Campaign to help their businesses become sustainable.

These outlets serve the unique and urgent information needs of their audiences, work to hold power to account, and strive to provide a more nuanced and complete story about their communities and people.

While New Mexicans have a special connection to their legacy news sources, they are also turning to smaller hyperlocal media. Philanthropy has an important role to play to ensure that relied-upon news outlets make a successful conversion to the digital age and that newer outlets can grow their audiences. The Local News Fund has also started an Incubator program to help fill gaps with startup news sources in Mora, Zuni Pueblo, Las Cruces and the International District in Albuquerque.

Investment Priorities

The goal of Press Forward New Mexico is to help sustain a thriving local news ecosystem that serves the information needs of New Mexico’s diverse residents. Core investment priorities include:

• Funding vital activities to help lower the cost of doing business and helping to diversify revenue streams.
• Supporting leadership success to nurture news entrepreneurs and senior management to adapt to a rapidly changing environment.
• Helping successful legacy publications evolve with new local ownership and digital transformations to better serve communities.
• Building on the pipeline of Local News Fellowships & Interns that can revitalize local news outlets with diverse, young staffers.
• Supporting collaboration between newsrooms, especially in underserved communities, so they get the information they need.

Intended Outcomes

For newsrooms, we will foster stronger, innovative organizations that can better meet the information needs of residents. This includes locally owned news outlets that are either nonprofit or for-profit. 

• Every resident, no matter where they live, will have access to trusted sources of news and information.
• Empowered residents will engage in the civic life of their communities.
• Editorial coverage that is nuanced, locally informed and solutions-oriented.

Governance

Steering Committee: The members of the Steering Committee will set the strategy and priorities for the fund. This group will meet regularly to discuss directions for the initiative, and is led by Thornburg Foundation and the New Mexico Local News Fund. Other Steering Committee members include McCune Charitable Foundation, Santa Fe Community Foundation, New Mexico Foundation, Albuquerque Community Foundation and Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico.