LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA) has hired Shelton Dodson to serve as its new Director of Public Affairs. Before joining NMDA, Dodson worked as a broadcast journalist for 24 years in New Mexico and Texas, covering news in southern New Mexico for 22 years.
A native New Mexican and graduate of Los Lunas High School, Dodson earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from New Mexico State University in 1994 and accepted his first job at KVIA-TV in El Paso the same year. During his time at KVIA, Dodson reported and anchored in both news and sports and worked as a videographer and editor for many stories. Dodson also held similar roles at KENS5-TV in San Antonio, Texas, KOB-TV in Albuquerque, and KFOX-TV and KDBC-TV, both in El Paso.
He has earned numerous broadcasting awards in Texas and New Mexico, including News Story of the Year and News Reporter of the Year by the New Mexico Broadcasters Association in 2006.
“We feel Shelton brings a unique skill set to our department,” said New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte. “His extensive experience in visual storytelling will help NMDA communicate with and inform the public in a way that few other agencies can. The fact that he’s a fourth-generation New Mexican who knows our state and understands the enormous impact agriculture has here only makes this hire even better for all of us.”
Dodson’s family has deep roots in New Mexico agriculture, tracing back to when his great-grandparents started dryland farming in Union County just before statehood. They later opened a dairy farm near Las Vegas, New Mexico, before moving the operation to Valencia County in the late 1940s.
“Working for NMDA is a dream job for me,” Dodson said. “To be able to apply my experience and knowledge of this state to the task of promoting New Mexico’s agriculture industry is a win-win situation. NMDA is about so much more than growing chile, picking pecans, milking cows and raising beef. I’m excited to tell the stories that demonstrate just how much we do and how well we do it.”
Dodson joined NMDA Nov. 16 at its Las Cruces headquarters.