Her voice was faint but her message was powerful.
As I listened to some voice messages that folks left for me while I was away from my desk, I paused at this particular message and listened to it again. And again.
The woman relayed that she was a member of the Issaquah Senior Center and she was calling to thank our staff for providing in-depth coverage of the troubled center. She said that she had seen one of our staff writers, Nicole Jennings, at so many of the board meetings, senior lunches and other events at the center that she was grateful that the Issaquah community has someone reporting on issues that matter.
Hearing from you — our readers — about how our reportage has impacted your lives is the most fulfilling part of my career.
Over the past decade, the Issaquah-Sammamish Reporter has strived to help build community by keeping Issaquah and Sammamish residents informed on local issues, offering consistent coverage of the City Council and other policy-making groups, holding public officials accountable by asking tough questions, providing balanced coverage of issues and staying actively involved in our communities we serve.
This is not a motto carved out on my desk that I mechanically recite, but an instinct that guides our newsroom staff as we report on our communities every day.
These actions and our ethos are the core of community journalism.
While some newspapers across the nation are closing, including two in our own backyard and two nearby, our mission at Sound Publishing is to keep on telling the stories of the people who live, work and play in the Issaquah and Sammamish communities, and to ensure that goal continues stronger than ever.
We want the Issaquah and Sammamish communities to understand what community journalism is and, most importantly, why it’s important to you. Whether it’s outlining the complexities of the East Lake Sammamish Trail litigation, covering council retreats, sporting events, local elections or sharing content from our sister publications that resonates with the entire Eastside, we strive to provide that coverage. We provide greater context of news coverage for you, so that you may have a stronger understanding of the various issues that are important to you, which will ultimately help you make the most informed decisions.
In the coming weeks, the Reporter will host a meet and greet event, when residents will have the opportunity to meet our award-winning staff, including reporters Joe Livarchik, Shaun Scott and Jennings; sales consultant Laura Dill; Publisher and Issaquah native William Shaw and myself.
We hope to hear from both longtime and new readers about what issues are important to you, what you appreciate about your community newspaper and how we could better serve Issaquah and Sammamish.
