Editorial — Your issues are our issues

Welcome.

To us and you.

That may sound a little pretentious, to be welcoming ourselves to the community. But that’s not how it’s meant; we’re just passing along the sentiments we’ve received so far.

Everywhere our staff has gone in the central Kenai Peninsula in our efforts to spread the word about our new newspaper, we’ve been greeted with that message: Welcome, we’re glad you’re here.

We are, too. To show it, we come bearing gifts: 100% locally owned, locally written, local central Kenai Peninsula news.

Community newspapers fulfill a vital function in our society. They help us understand where we’ve been and decide where we’re going, provide a way to connect with each other, allow us to share in and show off our accomplishments, and shine a light on the things we aren’t so proud of so we don’t stop working toward making our community better.

It’s an important function, and we are honored to be allowed to help fulfill it on the central peninsula.

Small “community” papers get a bad rap in the journalism industry. We’re supposedly the little guys, the B team, the second string to the metro dailies.

It’s an unfair characterization. No matter how small, community papers still serve the same role for their readers as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal do for theirs. We help people better know their community.

In a way, community newspapers do that even better than the big guys, because we’re often the only ones focusing solely on local information, be it honor rolls or house fires. That’s the stuff you won’t find on Google or MSNBC.

That’s the stuff we’d like to provide for you. That, and whatever else may be on your minds. We’re open to suggestions.

Have story ideas? Tell us about them. Want to see something in the paper? Suggest it. Don’t like something you did see in here? Let us know that, too.

Our goal is to develop a paper that reflects this community, and nowhere else. With the warm reception we’re received so far, it’s the least we can do.