New Mexico Foundation for Open Government celebrates Dixon Award recipients

ALBUQUERQUE — Nonprofit watchdog organization New Mexico Foundation for Open Government honored the winners of its annual government transparency awards Thursday, one of whom is the owner of several newspapers, including the Rio Rancho Observer and Albuquerque Journal, the Lang Family.

The Langs — including Publisher Bill Lang, Senior Vice President Pepper Lang and former publisher, the late Tom Lang — were one of two recipients of the 2025 Dixon First Amendment Freedom Awards for Lifetime Achievement.

Kathi Bearden, retired publisher of the Hobbs News-Sun, also received the award.

“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,” said Daniel Russell, chair of the Dixon Awards Committee. “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.”

NMFOG thanked the Lang family for their continued support and said the transparency group “would not exist without their support.”

Tom Lang provided financial assistance that was “crucial to the founding of FOG” and Bill and Pepper Lang have continued the legacy throughout their years of leadership at the Journal.

During the award ceremony, FOG founder and former Journal editor Kent Walz listed a variety of reasons the Langs were receiving the prestigious award, including lawsuits revolving around a police shooting settlement and University of New Mexico presidential searches, Walz said.

“Those cases were hard fought and contested, but they had the effect of rolling back the blanket secrecy that covered public hiring,” Walz said of the latter suit.

Bill Lang — to a crowd of journalists, transparency advocates and government officials — honored all staff, past and present, that have upheld a legacy of transparency.

“I think we’re honored to have this award but most honorable for us is all the people we dealt with,” Bill Lang said. “We have some people that work for us that you can’t imagine. So many people support us and what we do, and it’s so important to have that background and that knowledge to really make this happen for us.”

The other Dixon Awards recipients are:

Government category

Katherine Garcia-Gallegos, records custodian and Inspection of Public Records Act manager, city of Santa Fe: Garcia-Gallegos established Santa Fe’s Records Department to put traffic reports online, which accounted for about 80% of the city’s public records requests. The move significantly reduced the volume of requests and eased the workload for the department, making it easier for the public to access records.

Rep. Sarah Silva,D-Las Cruces: The first-year lawmaker introduced a bill requiring lobbyists to disclose the legislation they were paid to influence and who funded those efforts. The bill passed both chambers but was vetoed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. Silva also introduced a bill protecting journalists from being forced to reveal confidential sources. The measure stalled in committee.

Media categoryDiego Lopez, editor, Cibola Citizen: As editor in December 2024, Lopez began a series of articles about the Cibola County Commission, which had nominated a state representative to fill a vacancy in a different district. The nominee planned to give up his current seat and changed his address on his voter registration to become eligible for the vacancy. After the New Mexico Department of Justice confirmed he didn’t live in the district, the governor rejected his nomination and someone else was appointed.

Milan Simonich, columnist, Santa Fe New Mexican: After decades of work holding politicians accountable, Simonich is being recognized for spotlighting free speech issues after the University of New Mexico police charged a student group $10,000 to host a controversial speaker. He also covered a meeting during which state senators forced a reporter to leave the public meeting, and he reported on settlements the NMDOJ — which enforces IPRA — paid for violating open records laws.

The Dixon Awards honor the late William S. Dixon, a First Amendment advocate and FOG co-founder, according to the foundation. For the past 23 years, NMFOG has honored his memory by inviting members of the public to submit nominations for the awards.