It is my belief that one of the most important rolls of a news organization is community engagement. Why? It is consistent with how I was raised.

It is also how a publisher, editor or reporter develops the important contacts necessary for keeping up with current events in a community. The vital issues of the day that must be covered are best done so with establishing and maintaining relationships with newsmakers, whether they be community leaders or lesser known people working in the trenches and impacting their communities as much as any elected official or business leader.

It is my experience that over the past several years, the art of conversation is being lost. Many people just don’t talk to one another any more. There are any number of reasons for this – social media and our lack of civility about political differences immediately come to mind. I know that one solution to this loss of human engagement is to get people together. So, our reporting is designed to alert people of opportunities to gather together, especially through music, art, theater and community activism.

Education

Several years ago, in a conversation with the publisher of a newspaper in southern West Virginia, the importance of a news organization as an education entity became crystal clear. We were discussing how his grandfather developed his philosophy of journalism that a news organization is as important as the public schools in educating the community we serve. Children first learn community engagement in the public schools (and one hopes, their families). In my case, the latter is certainly true. Mom was a teacher. Dad was involved through the Jaycees and as he got older, by being one of the few people regularly attending meetings of the City Council in Bridgeport, W.Va. Our neighborhood had block parties, volleyball games and people gathering on porches during the summer. We talked and sang.

Our lives were better for it. So, get out, meet new people and listen, talk and learn. Our communities need it.