Newspapers and reporters have had a rough few years, as they’ve been lumped in with those in “newsertainment” who led too many to become distrustful of the community-focused work our journalists practice each day.

For the men and women working in our state’s weekly and daily newspaper newsrooms, the objective is to avoid that twisting, curating and injection of agenda that has been masquerading as “news.” We do so strenuously.

Why? Because we know how hard we must work to earn your trust; and that it is our responsibility to accurately and thoroughly report the news of our communities so you, our readers, are as informed as possible. We’ll let you form your own opinions about that information; and if we choose to give you our perspective, you’ll see it right here on these opinion pages, and nowhere else.

For those who believe they receive all the news they need via various internet platforms, we know it is important to be the trusted source that informs those conversations. We must be. If we don’t report on and deliver the news in a way that leads you to turn to us when you want the whole story of what’s happening in your community, we are nothing.

It is difficult to overestimate how seriously we take that responsibility. During this National Newspaper Week, we will — as we always do — deliver the news about your schools, communities, favorite local sports teams, nonprofits and community organizations, churches, theaters and more. It is news you simply will not find from any other source.

Our communities would suffer without the important work we do every day. Power would go unchecked; important local stories would go untold; and the excellent and inspirational work many in our communities are doing to better life for everyone would not be recognized. There’s plenty of research available that proves when local newspapers are not vibrant and strong, communities suffer.

Our relationship with the communities we cover is so valuable to us because we don’t just report and write here, we live here. Thank you for trusting us to shine a spotlight on that which has been kept in the dark, to inform, to tell the stories of our community — and to do it all for you.

editorial@vindy.com