New Mexico is poised to become the latest state to save local newsroom jobs through policies approved by its Legislature.
The Land of Enchantment offers another model for states that believe local journalism is essential to their civic health and want to help their news industries survive and grow.
While the vast majority of Americans trust and appreciate local news, only a few states so far have enacted tax credits and other measures to help news outlets survive their current disruption.
National proposals, including a 2021 call for journalism tax credits, stalled in Congress despite bipartisan support. But they provided templates for legislation in New Mexico and other states.
Illinois began providing refundable tax credits to local news outlets in 2025 and New York will provide them in 2026, under a program it finalized this week.
Meanwhile, a journalism-support proposal in Washington is unlikely to pass for the second year in a row. An Oregon proposal failed to advance.
If New Mexico’s governor signs the legislation, it will give local newspapers, broadcasters and online outlets tax credits worth up to $15,000 per journalist.
That will help save newsroom jobs and support hiring more. Republican and Democratic legislators agreed this was worth up to $4 million a year for the credits.
“In this moment where massive corporations seek to absorb and destroy local journalism ecosystems across the nation, New Mexico is stepping up to defend our newsrooms,” Sen. Carrie Hamblen, a former public radio journalist who sponsored the legislation, said via email.
The state also budgeted $3 million in emergency funding to support public broadcasters affected by federal cuts and $200,000 for its pioneering news fellowship program.
Legislators provided another $1 million yearly to support what’s left of New Mexico’s newspaper printing operations.
That policy would provide tax credits of $5,000 to $10,000 per employee at the state’s two remaining presses. A year ago it had four.
Driving home the need for support, the Gallup Independent daily newspaper stopped publishing and shuttered its press during the legislative session.
Pat Dorsey, publisher of the Santa Fe New Mexican, said the journalism credits would allow the paper to invest in more investigative and project-based reporting and “expand out into areas that I think are underserved in the state.”
“We talked about it as bridge funding to give us some time, some breathing room, as we all work on our business models to make them more sustainable for the future, and I think that resonated with communities around the state,” he said.
The family-owned daily operates one of the state’s last two presses. Dorsey said production credits would offset rising costs, including effects of tariffs on metal plates.
“This allows us to really absorb some of that because most of our newspapers are on the margins,” he said.
New Mexico’s 42 papers and communities they serve mostly depend on print editions, Dorsey said.
Publishing only online may sound easy in big cities but “we’re a rural state with a lot of small cities and communities,” he said.
“All those places, it’s just not practical for them,” he said. “Right now, the business plans don’t allow for digital-only. Plus we don’t have the best broadband, although it’s getting much better.”
The journalism policies are part of a budget legislators approved before their session ended Feb. 19.
Dorsey and Belinda Mills, CEO of the New Mexico Press Association, said they’re “cautiously optimistic” the policies will be signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
On the menu of policy options to save local journalism, tax credits are the most straightforward and least likely to spur opposition.
If properly written, and based on objective criteria like the number of professional journalists employed, these policies don’t allow government to pick favorites or influence news coverage.There’s ample proof this doesn’t compromise an independent press. The federal government supported the press in various ways since it subsidized delivery with the Postal Act of 1792.
It’s also common for government to help save key industries and jobs during periods of disruption.
Washington doesn’t yet have an income tax to credit against. But in 2023 it waived business taxes on publishers for 10 years, saving them around $1 million yearly.
Washington, Oregon and California also tried to address the skewed market for news online, by helping publishers get fair compensation from tech companies profiting from their work.
Oregon’s second attempt failed this year after receiving opposition from tech companies, and a few publishers and nonprofits aligned with them.
Washington’s proposal, Senate Bill 5400, is unlikely to progress but will be pursued in 2027, state Sen. Marko Liias said last Thursday during a news-industry reception in Olympia.
“I wish we could deliver more progress more quickly,” he said, “but I think we are building a momentum that’s going to help us get there.”
New York and Illinois in 2024 approved tax credits to save newsroom jobs.
Illinois provides up to $15,000 per newsroom job. It budgeted $5 million a year over five years for the program. That supported more than 260 jobs at more than 120 outlets in the first year, according to reports by Northwestern University’s Local News Initiative and Rebuild Local News.
New York is providing $30 million per year over three years. Outlets may receive up to $25,000 per employee and no more than $300,000 per year.
Even New York’s large program may not be enough for all of its newsrooms. The state cautioned that credits may be reduced if it receives too many requests. It also opted for a Le Mans start, with credits provided on a first-come, first-serve basis.
New York finally began taking applications for the credits Tuesday. It revised the program during last year’s budget process and then spent months finalizing its rules.
(I bobbled dates in a previous column: Revisions were to New York’s fiscal 2026 budget, not 2025. Also, applicants must submit 2024 tax returns since the first round of credits, arriving this year, are for the 2025 program year.)
A key champion was New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“Local newspapers, broadcasters and journalists are the backbone of our democracy. They inform our neighbors, elevate community voices and hold our leaders accountable,” she said in a release Monday. “This program will deliver meaningful support to newspaper and broadcast media businesses, keep reporters on the beat, strengthen local coverage and ensure New Yorkers have the trusted information they need.”
Right on. I’m looking forward to similar announcements from New Mexico Gov. Lujan Grisham, Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson and more in the years to come.
Brier Dudley is editor of The Seattle Times Save the Free Press Initiative. This column was originally published on February 25th and is reprinted here with permission. Dudley’s work will appear regularly on the Medill Local News Initiative site.
