It just so happens I have been thinking about community newspaper reporting.
The more I ponder the subject, the more I realise what an important role community newspaper reporters have.
Storytelling seems to be an integral part of every culture, and community newspapers should excel in accurately telling the stories of the people in the readership area.
Stories celebrate, empower, educate, inspire, heal and sometimes confront.
The conclusion I have come to is our newspaper The Ensign is part of the social development of this community.
People with foresight into how to make this community a better place to live, come up with a project and we report on it.
We also report on the successes of people in our community.
Having a free press is one of the hallmarks of a healthy democracy, and one of our roles is to keep an eagle eye on those in authority and make sure they act with integrity and justice.
In some ways, we are recording history as it happens.
It always amazes me how many people refer back to an Ensign story from the past when discussing an occasion in the present.
The stories in The Ensign reflect who we are as a community.
What a privilege and honour to be a storyteller in a newspaper that has been here since 1878.
It is interesting at this time there is a growing shortage of reporters.
I am not sure why, but I do know the number of institutions where people can train is decreasing.
I suspect people think there will not be a need for reporters soon.
Maybe, in time, the newsprint copy of the newspaper will become obsolete and stories will be published online, but we will always need reporters.
Whether at a community level or as individuals, we all need a space to tell our story and read the stories of others who tell theirs.
