What We Do
Since 2019, we’ve been shaping the future of local journalism by launching the careers of emerging reporters across New Mexico.
Our Mission
The New Mexico Local News Fellowships and Internships program provides career development experiences for journalism students and graduates from New Mexico public universities. Operated by the Communication & Journalism Department at the University of New Mexico, the program recruits and selects emerging journalists and matches them with mentors in local newsrooms. We give newsrooms enough money to pay competitive salaries to their fellows and interns. The program creates a powerful classroom-to-career pathway for a diverse selection of students, increases the capacity of local news organizations, encourages innovation, and strengthens democracy. Support for the program comes from the New Mexico Local News Fund, the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions, and other donors and supporters.
New for 2025-2026
When we began this program in 2019, stakeholder feedback helped us settle on a nine-month term for the fellowships. Over the past five years, however, we've heard from fellows and newsrooms that a full year would give fellows more time to gain experience and make it easier for them to arrange housing. Accordingly, we lengthened the term for the 2024-2025 cycle to 12 months and will continue with the 12-month fellowship cycle in 2025-2026. See the FAQ page for more information.
“For a small newspaper like The Independent, having a Local News Fellow in 2020 has meant the difference between scrambling to halfway cover everything in 4,000 square miles and being able to do a solid and consistent job covering that area. Our fellow has been on the front page nearly every week as an integral and very important part of the team.”
— Newsroom host Leota Harriman
What We’ve Achieved
“Our fellow has been a godsend as we cover the biggest health and economic crisis of our careers along with the various protests following the death of George Floyd. We have been fortunate to have him in our newsroom. Your fellowship program has been amazing.”
— Newsroom Host Martin Salazar, Albuquerque Journal