It’s the ‘Way to Know’ your community

Sometimes it’s the most celebrated thing, yet other times it’s the most cursed thing around. 
We have found ourselves on both ends of that amazing spectrum. 
If you haven’t figured out what I’m referring to, it’s the local newspaper. There are times when we hit the mark and knock it out of the water with our great local community coverage. And then there are times when we fall short and make some mistakes. 
The primary difference between us making a mistake and other industries is that we have thousands of people who get to see our mistakes with their own eyes. That doesn’t happen in many other businesses. 
This week we’re celebrating our successes through National Newspaper Week.  The theme is “Way to Know,” and boy a newspaper is definitely the trendiest thing I can think of in knowing what’s going on in your community. We have a unique relevance to the community that hardly anyone else has. 
At the DCI we have committed to singing the praises of community journalists and the work they do for everyone during National Newspaper Week. We are definitely the way to know what’s going on in the world around us, especially those areas so close to home. 
We serve many different roles as a service to the community. We serve as a government watchdog role, publish timely public notices, cover countless community events and publicize the triumphs—and yes, sometimes the failures—of people in the community. 
For years people have been suggesting that newspapers are dying. What a crock of BS that is, and I have proven that with the area community newspapers I have operated over the past seven years. I have owned the Steele County Times since 2009 and the DCI since July 2015. 
What I will say is that newspapers are definitely different than they were 25 years ago. Just like any other industry, the underlying economic drivers for newspapers look a lot different than they did in the 1980s. 
Besides putting out a printed newspaper every week, we also find ourselves pushing stories onto our website, social media and even video. In today’s world, they are all tools we use for better stories as we fight to keep readers in the know.
Our promise to you is to provide facts, presented in a clear, accurate and complete manner. 
Each week we try to provide compelling human interest stories as we travel the main highways and back roads throughout Dodge County and the surrounding area. We have learned how to package hometown news in an incredible format that our readers love to look at week after week. 
If there is anything I hope our readers take away from this week, it’s that we have a hardworking crew of editors, journalists, graphic designers and office support staff who don’t take the challenge of providing quality and accurate information to everyone lightly. 
I believe our communities are better because citizens are informed through newspapers and other forms of media. A world without newspapers would be a travesty. 
I’m not naïve enough to think we’re always going to get everything right. But I hope you will cut us some slack from time to time as we’re busting our butts to provide this area with news in a way that no one else provides. 
Who else could you depend on to be in hot pursuit of providing ‘Way to Know’ coverage of your community?