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Western New Mexico University graduate student Regina Barnett (BS ’23) has been selected for a prestigious New Mexico Local News Fund [NMLN] Fellowship. The fellowship provides Barnett with a salaried position at Soccoro’s El Defensor Chieftain newspaper while she continues her coursework toward a graduate degree in Interdisciplinary Studies.

The NMLN Fund is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to expanding and strengthening local news coverage in New Mexico. Through its fellowship and internship program, the organization “recruits and selects emerging journalists and matches them with mentors in local newsrooms,” according to the organization’s website.

Barnett said that she was surprised to learn she was awarded the fellowship. “I honestly did not even expect a call back,” said Barnett. “With my crazy schedule because of my son, I thought I would be passed over for a younger applicant with less baggage. When I received the call, I was happy to even be considered, and when I found out I was awarded the fellowship, I was very excited but also nervous.” Barnett explained that the nerves were due to the fact that she has not worked an office job for about eight years because she has been caring for her young son, who has autism, and attending WNMU remotely.

Barnett, who has been writing for the Sierra County Sentinel, explained that her attraction to journalism was spurred in part by studying history at WNMU. “Having been a history major, I know how important local papers are for the preservation of history in a community,” she stated. “I meet so many amazing people in my community and elsewhere, and I want their stories to be told not just for right now but for future generations who may be looking up that information in archives the way I have for so many assignments.”

The opportunity to connect with people in her community and learn of their diverse experiences also draws Barnett to journalism. “I have gone to events where I was able to participate in a ghost hunter investigation in Kingston, NM, an old mining ghost town, and once I was able to go on a canoe tour on Caballo Lake where I was able to listen to the stories of the stars from a Navajo medicine man,” she said. “These experiences make the job really fun, but I mostly just enjoy hearing about people’s lives and giving small community people and businesses the recognition they deserve. They are always very grateful, and it makes me feel good.”

At El Defensor Chieftain, Barnett will have an opportunity to expand the kinds of stories she writes. “I will be working on the police blotter, some human-interest stories, and also learning to cover county and other government meetings,” she said.

Barnett said that both her undergraduate studies and her master’s program at WNMU have helped prepare her for the work she will be doing under the NMLN Fellowship. “The program at WNMU has helped me in terms of my writing skills and time management since I mainly work on my own schedule with deadlines,” she said. “I have also learned many research skills, [and] WNMU’s focus on the humanities has made me a better person in the way that I am able to understand several people’s points of view, and I am also more resilient to criticism.”

WNMU Professor of English Heather Steinmann, who has taught Barnett at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, said that she was not at all surprised to learn that Barnett was awarded the prestigious NMLN Fellowship. Barnett is “a model writer and graduate student,” said Steinmann. “She understands and completes complex tasks with ease and is a great communicator. This is why she landed work as a writer and tutor, and why she’ll excel in her fellowship position.”

[Photo courtesy of the El Defensor Chieftain.]