Dulcinea Lara

Panel discusses education opportunities in wake of Yazzie Martinez

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There is no question that 2018’s Yazzie Martinez education lawsuit has changed the conversation on education in New Mexico. 

Yes, there is still the constant discussion about the state’s dead last ranking in education, but the ruling by District Judge Sarah Singleton that the state is failing its constitutional duty to educate at-risk students put some legal force behind demands of advocates that the state do something about it.  The future of education in light of the lawsuit was probably the biggest issue in the 2018 governor’s race. And it was behind the nearly half-billion in extra funding allocated by the 2019 Legislature for the state’s public schools. Despite that cash infusion, advocates say the state didn’t do nearly enough in 2019, and are pushing lawmakers to do much more to transform the education system. Southern New Mexico, because of its distance, is often left out of the conversation. But last week Ngage New Mexico, a Las Cruces-based education nonprofit, and Transform Education New Mexico, a coalition that came of out the Yazzie Martinez case, teamed up to look at what opportunities lie ahead for the state in education.

From our blog

Journalism under fire

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“How does technology shape the truth?”

That’s the animating question of the Santa Fe Council on International Relations’ second annual Journalism Under Fire conference to be held in Santa Fe next week on Nov. 14-15. 

Dozens of participants, including leading journalists, scholars and former government officials from across the the globe, will explore that question and the intersection between social media and fake news; the ways in which artificial intelligence is increasingly influencing the public domain; how China’s use of technology will have massive ramifications for the U.S.; and how digital forensics have opened up a new line of investigation, using crowd-sourced video and Big Data to reconstruct truth. New Mexico In Depth is proud to be a conference sponsor and to participate in the conversation (Executive Director Trip Jennings will be on one of the panels.)

For tickets and more information, go to www.sfcir.org/journalism-under-fire. Join the conversation.

From our blog

Journalism under fire

By |

“How does technology shape the truth?”

That’s the animating question of the Santa Fe Council on International Relations’ second annual Journalism Under Fire conference to be held in Santa Fe on Nov. 14-15. 

Dozens of participants, including leading journalists, scholars and former government officials from across the the globe, will explore that question and the intersection between social media and fake news; the ways in which artificial intelligence is increasingly influencing the public domain; how China’s use of technology will have massive ramifications for the U.S.; and how digital forensics have opened up a new line of investigation, using crowd-sourced video and Big Data to reconstruct truth. New Mexico In Depth is proud to be a conference sponsor and to participate in the conversation (Executive Director Trip Jennings will be on one of the panels.)

For tickets and more information, go to www.sfcir.org/journalism-under-fire. Join the conversation.

NMID wins top honors in regional, state journalism contests

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New Mexico In Depth collected six awards – two first-place and four second-place – in a regional journalism contest that pit it against the largest newspapers, radio and TV stations in New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah. The honors, part of the annual Society of Professional Journalists’ Top of the Rockies contest, were announced last week at the Denver Press Club.  

NMID took first place in the legal enterprise and education enterprise reporting categories, according to SPJ. In the former, Jeff Proctor and Justin Howarth won for a three-story collaboration between NMID and the Santa Fe Reporter, Santa Fe’s alternative weekly newspaper, beating out the Salt Lake City Deseret News newspaper and Westword, an independent news outlet in Denver, for top honors. The series examined how an influential New Mexico powerbroker might have escaped a drunken driving charge in Albuquerque and disclosed that prosecutors had misled the public about a plea deal with the former Cabinet secretary in Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration.

2016 election

Dona Ana County pushes Torres Small ahead in stunning, come-from-behind victory

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Democrat Xochitl Torres Small surged to a stunning, last-minute victory Wednesday evening against Republican Yvette Herrell for the 2nd Congressional District seat as her home county of Doña Ana pushed her over the top. It represented a surprising turn of events. Not only was the district sending a woman to Washington for the first time in its 50-year history. It was sending a Democratic woman of color from Doña Ana County. What a difference 24 hours makes.

Ethics

NMID’s Trip Jennings discusses ethics commission proposal on NMPBS

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NMID’s Trip Jennings discussed a November ballot measure that would create an independent ethics commission on the New Mexico PBS public affairs show “New Mexico in Focus.” If voters approve the measure Nov. 6, the Legislature, with input from New Mexico’s next governor, will work out how the commission will operate and who it will oversee during the 2019 legislative session. Already, a working group meeting through the fall is discussing draft ethics commission legislation that would go to state lawmakers to prime the conversation. The group’s next meeting is Thursday afternoon at the University of New Mexico Science & Technology Park Rotunda, 851 University Boulevard SE, Albuquerque.

From our blog

A free press is not the enemy of the people

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The role of the press has been contentious from the very early days of our democracy. The men who authored the foundational documents of the United States enshrined a free press in the first amendment to the Constitution. For just as long, it’s been a time-honored tradition for elected officials to lambast media reports as false, wrong-headed, not accurate…and in recent years, “fake.”

More than likely, the press has also been called the “enemy of the people” before the current era. But it’s doubtful there has been such a wholesale onslaught on the public’s confidence in the press as that conducted by the current occupant of the White House. Do we sometimes get it wrong?

NMID wins big in regional journalism contest

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New Mexico In Depth notched two wins competing against the largest newspapers, radio and TV stations in the four-state region of New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah. The awards, part of the annual Society of Professional Journalists’ Top of the Rockies contest, were announced last week at the Denver Press Club.  

NMID’s Deputy Director Marjorie Childress won first place in the political enterprise reporting category for newspapers whose circulation tops 75,000 and large-market radio and TV stations. Her September 2017 story Realtors and developers give big money to ABQ mayoral candidates took the prize. Using data analysis, Childress examined campaign finance data and then did additional reporting to conclude the real estate and land development sector had given roughly $1 of every $4 raised in the Albuquerque mayoral race as election day neared.

NM In Depth wins 10 awards from Press Women’s Association

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The work of New Mexico In Depth reporters, editors and Fellows has been recognized with 10 awards from the New Mexico Press Women’s Association, including stories that have explored the real-life consequences for DACA recipients of the Trump administration’s policies and whether young people are leaving the state because of a lack of opportunities. Also garnering awards were articles examining the effect of money in the Albuquerque mayor’s race and a look at the city’s urban Indian population three years after two homeless Native Americans were killed in a vicious attack. “We’re extraordinarily proud of our showing,” said NMID Executive Director Trip Jennings, citing in particular the honors three of NMID’s Fellows — Xchelzin Peña, Melorie Begay and Robert Salas — won in the contest. All three are the first recipients of NMID’s Fellowships. NMID started the program in 2016 for journalism students and recent graduates of color at the University of New Mexico and New Mexico State University.