SB 57 LOCAL NEWS FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

Sen Peter Wirth

Actions: [1] SCC/STBTC/SFC-SCC [2]germane-STBTC [3] DP-SFC

Scheduled: Not Scheduled

 Senate Bill 57 (SB 57) appropriates five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) to the Workforce Solutions Department for a Local News Fellowship Program. 


 

 Senate Bill 57 (SB 57) appropriates five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) from the General Fund (GF) to the Workforce Solutions Department for expenditure in Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 for a Local News Fellowship Program. 

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY 2025 reverts to the GF. 

 Since 2019 NM Local News Fund via its partner and program host, the UNM School of Communication & Journalism, has issued newsrooms grants for 9-month fellowships to pay for the fellows' salaries and give these journalists newsroom experience.
In 2023 NMLNF partnered with the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions and received $125,000 in state funding. The fellows are paid a competitive salary and assigned a mentor. Out of the first sixteen fellows in the program, the majority are working full time in local newsrooms. Candidates are selected by an independent committee led by faculty from University of New Mexico, New Mexico State University and Eastern New Mexico University. Both newsrooms and prospective journalists must apply to participate in the fellowship or internship programs. 
https://www.nmlocalnews.org/fellowship/