News outlets around the country are struggling to stay afloat as the pandemic debilitates businesses they depend on for ad revenue. The Santa Fe New Mexican and the Santa Fe Reporter have announced layoffs and salary cuts, and the Gallup Independent is moving its entire staff to part-time. On Monday, President Trump once again attacked the news media in a campaign-style video during a press briefing. Meanwhile, U.S. Senator Tom Udall is calling for the next federal relief package to include funding for local news outlets.
KUNM spoke to New Mexico's senior senator on Monday about the importance of the fourth estate.
SEN. TOM UDALL: Well, during times of crisis like this, we see just how important local journalism is. It's how people stay informed and keep their families and their communities safe. Sometimes, lifesaving information flows from these media outlets. But this pandemic is forcing many local outlets across New Mexico to make impossible decisions. This is a real and urgent problem. And that's why I'm pushing for Congress to include funding to support local journalism.
KUNM: Give me a tenor of the support you're getting from your colleagues.
UDALL: We have 17 to 18 U.S. senators who have signed on to this letter. I believe there's a great deal of support broader than that; we're working it hard on the phones and pushing for it. The small local outlets – every member of Congress has them, because there are rural areas in almost every state. And they're bringing this message to us, that they're having to lay people off. For example, the New Mexican today laid off 19 people. So you know, that's a good size newspaper. I think it's our big capital city newspaper in New Mexico. So it's pretty surprising to hear this happening in such a dramatic way.
KUNM: The news media has been framed as the enemy by the Trump administration and others on the campaign trails. Why do you think it's necessary to preserve journalism in the U.S.?
UDALL: The media is the core of our check on power. It's where we get accurate information. I've spoken out about this from the day it happened. That is the wrong approach. It's a bad approach. It's not good for our democracy. If we look at history, and we study history, and we don't want to repeat ourselves, that's what's happened around the world in big conflicts, when authoritarian leaders don't like being criticized and then they try to demonize the media, and then in many cases, they get control of all the government and then they just stamp out the media. And so this is a bad thing for democracy. Of course, the media should be able to take a little bit of criticism, but I don't think that should be our focus. We're in elected office to get out issues. These local broadcasters help us get out our issues and bring information to voters, so they're an essential part of our democracy.
KUNM: Given that antagonistic framing, how can you preserve independence to make sure that there's no strings attached to this funding -- meaning, publications and media outlets that are more favorable to the administration get their funding, where those who levy a little bit more scrutiny would not? How can you ensure that everybody will get the money that they need?
UDALL: I think it's important that we not, in setting up some relief here, try to manipulate the media in any way. We don't have all the details worked out. Now to give you an example, the kind of thing we're doing for small business, where you give a loan, but then it turns into a grant if 90% of your workers continue to be employed through the crisis, no other conditions, you're off the hook there. So that's a good model, I think. But we're going to take media input, I'm going to get on a call with my local broadcasters in the next day or so and hear input from them as to what they're worried about on the specific points you've raised of how can you give money and have it not influence the operation of the local media outlets.
*******
This is an excerpt from an interview that originally aired on our show Your NM Government. Catch it every weeknight at 7:30 p.m. here on KUNM, or find it wherever you get your podcasts. Your NM Government is a collaboration between KUNM, New Mexico PBS and the Santa Fe Reporter.
