Many years from now, when Michelle Lujan Grisham says goodbye to public service, journalists such as a Daniel J. Chacón or Margaret O’Hara will chronicle her political impact by looking back at 2026.
They’ll write about how the governor in the last year of her last term signed legislation that redefined the state’s medical malpractice laws, put New Mexico on the national map with universal child care and made the state’s health care system a priority through numerous policy changes, including interstate compacts for doctors and social workers.
We may look back at two other legislative decisions that didn’t grab headlines yet kept local journalism alive and hopeful in this state.
Tax credits for employing local journalists (originally Senate Bill 120) and printing newspapers (Senate Bill 150) made their way into the omnibus tax package Gov. Lujan Grisham signed on Wednesday (March 11). Her support put New Mexico on the national media map, too.
Sen. Carrie Hamblen and Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth sponsored the bills and expertly orchestrated the tax credits through a legislative process that starts as a marathon and ends in a sprint.
This isn’t a sweetheart deal, nor is it quid pro quo. The state isn’t cutting any publisher a check. Plus, both tax credits eventually sunset — meaning news organizations that are struggling to diversify their revenue streams have a short but meaningful period to rethink how they remain relevant into the future.
Ultimately, it’s on the public, and it’s on us.
“These tax credits are meant to give newspapers and other local media organizations some breathing room to better align their business models to the realities of the current marketplace. There is not one answer; it is about implementing many strategies within their local communities to support a strong local news operation and best serve their community,” said Patrick Dorsey, The Santa Fe New Mexican publisher who makes the Energizer Bunny look like a total slacker.
The State of Local News Project shows six New Mexico counties with no news outlets, while the number of counties with one news outlet stretches across the state. The number of journalists in the state has dropped about 60% compared with a decade ago, reflective of a national trend.
When the Gallup-based Independent shut its doors Jan. 31, near the midpoint of the legislative session, the state lost both a newspaper and a print plant. Hobbs and Santa Fe have the only newspaper plants in the state, and both count on commercial customers from other states.
What separates New Mexico’s local news environment from other states is our strong presence of local ownership. They’re New Mexicans, not New Yorkers.
Subscribers statewide also have a long-held loyalty to the print experience. There’s something still magical about turning to the sports section during the state basketball tournament and seeing a photo of your kid — or your neighbor’s kid — with arms raised and a big smile.
The tax credit rewards local bylines, and it won’t go to any publicly held company based elsewhere. Plus, it supports established digital-only sites that often fill news gaps in rural communities.
“For a long time, we’ve all been talking about the crisis in local journalism, watching newspapers close and newsrooms shrink. What happened this session is a recognition that local news isn’t just another industry — it’s civic infrastructure. New Mexico chose to act before more communities lose the reporters who tell their stories and hold power accountable,” Belinda Mills, president and CEO of the New Mexico Press Association, writes in an email.
The tax credits didn’t happen overnight. When Sen. Wirth met with The New Mexican’s editorial board in late 2024, our energizer publisher seized the moment to discuss tax credit possibilities in a meeting that stretched into a second hour. (And I wasn’t the only one checking their watch.)
The good senator patiently listened, continued conferring with our publisher, and then sponsored the bills that went through the 2025 session. Only last-minute budgetary changes kept them from getting to the governor’s desk.
In 2026, Wirth didn’t waver from his support for local journalism — despite being less than enamored with his local newspaper’s coverage late in the session. (Yes, that would be us.)
New Mexico becomes only the third state — along with New York and Illinois — to address the diminishing number of local journalists and its impact on the democratic process, and the first state to implement a newspaper printing credit.
So, when MLG does her next countdown of reasons to celebrate New Mexico, the governor can add this to her top 10 list: “Only state that embraces the civic value behind the First Amendment.”
Boom, mic drop.
Mills jumped into her newish role as the press association’s top executive by spending countless hours at the Roundhouse — in offices, hallways, receptions, the galleries — as this historic legislation made its way to the governor’s office.
She should put Timbuk3’s “The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades” on her playlist.
“In an age when the media gets knocked around a lot, I actually left Santa Fe with a warm feeling this session,” Mills writes.
“From private conversations to public meetings, lawmakers in New Mexico showed that they value local journalism and the role it plays in helping New Mexicans stay informed, not only about the work being done in their name, but about the news and issues affecting their respective communities.”
Bill Church is executive editor at The Santa Fe New Mexican.
Originally published March 14 in the Santa Fe New Mexican.
