Publisher Belinda Mills leaves for new job

Las Cruces Bulletin Publisher Belinda Mills is stepping down from her role as leader of the Bulletin to serve news outlets across the state.

Mills, who has been in her current role at the Bulletin since 2023, leaves Friday for her new position as chief executive officer for New Mexico Press Association, New Mexico Press Foundation and the New Mexico Press Service. She will lead efforts to work on behalf of all news outlets across New Mexico.

The New Mexico Press Association said in a statement that the board conducted a rigorous search process, interviewed national and local candidates, and found a great fit with Mills. She will start in her new role at the end of March.

Mills said she appreciates the opportunity to work with the family-owned Bulletin and she is grateful to the Osteen family for bringing her back to New Mexico and giving her the chance to effect change in the local news landscape in Las Cruces. Prior to the Bulletin, Mills was publisher of a newspaper in Arizona.

Mills changed the mission of the Bulletin during her tenure at the weekly.

“The Bulletin had always been a ‘good news’ newspaper, which is great, but I identified some news gaps in this community and felt it was an important time for change. Therefore, I changed the mission of the Bulletin, not only to bring all the great things in this community to light but also to be the watchdog that local journalists are supposed to be,” Mills said.

Mills said the first thing she intends to do in her new role is to undertake a listening tour around the state to meet with newspapers and obtain a better understanding of individual needs and how the association can best assist them.

Mills said she believes the biggest challenge for community newspapers is resources. She is looking forward to finding ways to support and help local newsrooms find both resources and funding.

Mills said working in journalism is “in her blood.” She wrote her first newspaper story in the fifth grade, covering the local 4H club in her home in west Texas.

Professionally, Mills started as a reporter before moving to advertising. She has held roles as varied as bookkeeping to classified manager and has worked for small family-owned companies, for mid-size newspapers and for large corporations, such as Gannet and Hearst. She said all of these experiences combine to give her a unique perspective and skill set which she will bring to

her new role. The New Mexico Press Association said in its statement that Mills was “a competitive candidate.”

“I have a deep understanding of the workings of a local newspaper. I’ve worked most of the desks in newspapers. I will bring my experience to the table to be of service to the newspapers in our state,” she told the Bulletin.

Mills will travel for her new job but she intends to continue to live in Las Cruces.

“Las Cruces is my home,” she said.

Mills said she looks forward to serving all the news outlets of the state because local journalism is “crucial to our communities.”

“I’ve always believed in the importance of local journalism. I believe we provide an important service to our community, by letting people know what’s going on. But we also serve as the fourth estate and we are here to protect our civil liberties,” she said.