The nonprofit New Mexico Foundation for Open Government this week announced the winners of its annual government transparency and free expression awards, including two newspaper publishers, a state lawmaker and three other New Mexicans.
The 2025 Dixon First Amendment Freedom Awards Lifetime Achievement winners are the Lang family, who own the Albuquerque Journal; and Kathi Bearden, retired publisher of the Hobbs News-Sun.
“The Dixon Awards celebrate the vital work of citizens across New Mexico who make sure open and transparent government is more than just lip service,” Dixon Awards Committee Chair Daniel Russel said in a statement. “Those being honored are among the best at turning that principle into reality — by exercising the rights we all have — and ensuring everyone has access to their government.”
The Dixon Freedom Award winners in the government category are City of Santa Fe IPRA Manager Katherine Garcia-Gallegos and state Rep. Sarah Silva (D-Las Cruces). The media category winners are Cibola Citizen Editor Diego Lopez and Santa Fe New Mexican columnist Milan Simonich.
NMFOG said Garcia-Gallegos in November 2024 “ushered in a new era” at the city’s Records Department by putting all police-recorded crash reports online, easing the department’s workload and giving the public greater access.
Garcia-Gallegos told Source NM that IPRA requests for accident reports accounted for nearly 55% of the city’s total requests in 2024, and over the last few years her team noticed they were receiving multiple requests for the same report.
NMFOG praised Lopez’s dedication to transparency, investigative reporting and ability to explain complex constitutional issues in a December 2024 series about the Cibola County Commission.
The group said Simonich has for decades held politicians in Santa Fe and across New Mexico accountable, spotlighted free speech issues and covered open meetings law.
NMFOG noted Silva, as a freshman lawmaker, passed legislation that would have required lobbyists to disclose bills they were paid to influence and who was paying them, though Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham ultimately vetoed the bill. NMFOG also pointed to Silva’s recent effort to protect journalists from being forced to reveal anonymous sources or unpublished information that stalled after passing through two House committees.
Silva is married to journalist Heath Haussamen.
“Knowing who influences our elected officials, having access to public documents and expressing our opinions to shape public life for us and our families: These things are critical in a healthy democracy,” Silva told Source NM via text message.
