NMiF marks Sunshine Week and Women’s History Month

This week, New Mexico in Focus is marking Sunshine Week - the annual celebration of the fight for government transparency - with the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government.

Executive Producer Jeff Proctor sat down with NMFOG board member Greg Williams to evaluate the state of local government transparency, where the light shines brightly in New Mexico, and what remains in the shadows.

In honor of Women's History Month, NMIF searched through the archives for some of the best stories of gender equity and groundbreaking women that has aired in recent years.

NMIF revisits a conversation from 2023 with Martha Burk - former chair of the National Council of Women's Organization - about a letter she sent more than two decades ago that rocked the insular, men's-only membership of the Augusta National Golf Club.

For nearly a century now, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has gendered its awards for performers. A few years back, a group of UNM undergraduate constitutional law students questioned that structure - and their report made it all the way to the Academy's Board of Governors. Last year, Senior Producer Lou Divizio sat down with two of the 10 student authors and their professor to find out what they recommended - and why.

On Oct. 5, 2022, NASA's "SpaceX Crew Five" launched from the Kennedy Space Center with astronaut Nicole Mann not only on board, but commanding the mission. That day, she became the first Native American woman in space. Before she blasted off on her historic mission, Mann caught up with correspondent Antonia Gonzales.

Back in 1993, the Vietnam Women's Memorial became the first monument dedicated to women veterans installed on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Thirty years later, Faith Perez, host of the NMPBS arts and culture program ¡Colores!, spoke with two local nurses who served in Vietnam about what the memorial - and its acknowledgement of that war's women veterans - has meant to them through the years.

NMiF airs on NMPBS 5.1 (KNME HD) on Friday, March 20, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, March 22 at 7 a.m. and streaming on the PBS video app. Involved, informed, in-depth media: watch New Mexico in Focus again online shortly thereafter.

Host
Nash Jones

NMiF Segments
Local and State Government Transparency in 2026
Correspondent
Jeff Proctor

Guest
Greg Williams, board member, NM Foundation for Open Government

Martha Burk and Augusta National, 20 Years Later
Correspondent
Jeff Proctor

Guest
Martha Burk, author, host of the podcast 'Equal Time with Martha Burk'

UNM Law Students Against Gendered Acting Categories at the Oscars
Correspondent
Lou DiVizio

Guests
Abigail McCoy, constitutional law student, proposal contributor
Devrah Fung, constitutional law student, proposal contributor
Lawrence Jones, UNM adjunct professor

First Native American Woman in Space
Correspondent
Antonia Gonzales (Navajo)

Guest
Nicole Mann (Wailacki of the Round Valley Indian Tribes), NASA astronaut, SpaceX Crew-5 commander

30th Anniversary of the Vietnam Women's Memorial
Correspondent
Faith Perez

Guests
Jane Carson, Vietnam veteran
Dotty Beatty, Vietnam veteran

New Mexico in Focus is the New Mexico PBS prime-time news magazine show covering the events, issues, and people shaping life in New Mexico and the Southwest. NMiF takes a multi-layered look at social, political, economic, educational, and art issues, exploring them in depth with a critical eye to provide context beyond the "news of the moment."

NMPBS Executive Producer, Public Affairs is Jeff Proctor. New Mexico in Focus's senior producer for public affairs is Lou DiVizio. Host and producer of New Mexico in Focus is Nash Jones. Producer is Antonio Sanchez. Multimedia journalist is Cailley Chella.

Funding for New Mexico in Focus is provided by the McCune Charitable Foundation and Viewers Like You. Funding for the Your New Mexico Government Project comes from the Thornburg Foundation and New Mexico Local News Fund. Funding for Our Land: New Mexico's Environmental Past, Present & Future is provided in part by the Neeper Natural History Programming.