Media leader named head of NMPA

Sammy Lopez, a longtime New Mexico media leader, has been named executive director of the New Mexico Press Association.

“We are pleased to have retained the forward-looking services of this native New Mexican with a lifetime of experience in journalism and newspapers,” said NMPA President Leota Brigida Harriman.

Lopez has been publisher for newspapers in Las Cruces, Farmington, Carlsbad, Ruidoso, Deming and Fort Sumner.

According to a NMPA news release:

Lopez also served in executive capacities with World West, where he was group manager for eight newspapers in three states, as well as Civitas Media, where in addition to managing six daily and two weekly newspapers he was instrumental in launching four real estate websites supported by four magazines.

Newspapers he led have been awarded four times with first place wins as NMPA General Excellence; the Daily Times in Farmington was recognized by Columbia University in 2008 for its diversity coverage and editorials; and in 2017 the Daily Times, again under his leadership, won Gannett Division III Breaking News Award for its coverage of an Aztec high school shooting.

Lopez was inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame in 2010 and served on the Board for the Foundation for Open Government and in 2008 was given the Dixon First Amendment Freedom Award.