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This week is the 84th celebration of National Newspaper Week — a time for us to reflect on our role in the community and what led us here in the first place.

Some of us came up as die-hard journalists from a young age, attending college for journalism. Others came into the industry through other means.

Regardless, we’re proud to be a part of moving the newspaper business forward and continuing to bring you information that is important to the community.

Though the distribution method for newspapers has shifted somewhat in recent years from being primarily a print source to now one that focuses on both print and digital formats, we hope you still count on us to keep you informed of the happenings in the community and that you can turn to us to be your advocate if you have questions and don’t know where to turn.

Though there may be fewer journalists than there used to be, we still try to get out to as many community events that we can, prioritize our local government meetings and strive to serve as a watchdog for you.

Our goals are still the same: to educate, inform and entertain our readers and to be a reliable source of information you can trust.

Newspapers also serve as a keeper of history, whether it be something that happened last week, last month, 10 years ago or even a generation ago.

This was clear at the opening of the time capsule this week that was in the former Naeve Hospital in Albert Lea. Inside, amongst less than a half a dozen items, was a newspaper from 1911. A newspaper from 2024 was also prioritized to be placed into the new time capsule installed when the garden was constructed this year. We’re proud to be a part of both of these events that span more than 100 years apart.

We ask you to remind your friends and neighbors of the value of local journalism in our community and of supporting it so this work can continue for many more years to come.

Local journalism, and particularly newspapers, serve as the community’s forum, not only for news articles and photographs, but also as a place to hear and learn about others’ opinions and for businesses to showcase their services to the community.

This week and into the future, we encourage you to get involved in this newspaper. Write a letter to the editor. Submit a photo of something happening with your business or organization or simply let us know when you have something exciting happening that you think deserves to be reported on.

We value your input and look forward to seeing you out in the community.