It’s all about community

Good journalism provides the news and facts a society needs to make informed decisions for a healthy democracy. Local news organizations, like The Daily Herald, do that by also telling our community stories.

We heard how important it is to you to hear stories about our community — and to have your stories told — during the online conversations we hosted over the past three months to talk about local journalism. At these virtual gatherings, we listened to what you said we do could do better as your local news provider and what we do well.

Throughout all the conversations there was a consistent theme: you value local journalism because it’s important to you to understand what’s going on locally and to hear your community’s stories.

Community stories are powerful. They can connect and inform us, hold those in elected positions accountable, and lift up the voices of those who often feel unheard.

You can hear some of the most impactful community stories told this year through The Daily Herald at a special event, Behind the News Stories, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10, at the Edmonds Center for the Arts.

We hope you’ll join us for this evening of storytelling about what happens behind the scenes and who is involved to shed light on the information our community needs and deserves to know.

If you attend Behind the News Stories — and we hope you will — you’ll have a chance to ask questions of our news team, share why local journalism is important to you and show your support with a donation to one of our journalism funds, which enable the Herald to do more reporting that benefits our community.

You might also meet future journalists. The Daily Herald is providing free admission to Behind the News Stories for about 20 journalism students from Everett Community College and Washington State University at Everett. We’re doing this because we want to pass on a passion for telling community stories to the next generation.

In order for local news providers like the Herald to survive, we need not only community support, but also smart, dedicated individuals committed to the mission of journalism.

To help ensure good journalists for the future, the Herald Scholarship Fund, formed in 2008 when longtime reporter Jim Haley retired, supports the training of local journalists at the college level. It’s also why two members of the Herald’s news team have been talking with young students.

Mallory Gruben, the Herald’s education reporter and Report for America corps member, was invited to speak last week at Journalism Day sponsored by the Washington Journalism Education Association. She shared her career journey with about three dozen high school students and answered their questions about what it’s like to be a reporter and how to get started. Gruben’s stories also gave high school journalism advisors more inside knowledge about the Report for America program as a potential path for their students.

This month, Eric Schucht, Herald web producer and writer, is speaking to two classes at Marysville Pilchuck High School about what journalists do. His presentation is designed to deliver the truth about being a journalist with a bit of humor. Schucht points out some of the negatives of going into the field, but he ends with the upsides, including this: The job is a vital service for the health and function of a community.

If you’re reading this story with the printed newspaper spread out in front of you or on your phone, you might agree with Schucht — and also with Terry Brown. Brown recently contributed to one of our journalism funds. When asked what inspired him to do so, he replied: “I believe in supporting local newspapers because knowing my community is important. Nothing else impacts me in the same way.”

Behind the News Stories

Learn more about The Daily Herald’s Behind the News Stories event from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Nov. 10 at the Edmonds Center for the Arts and how you can get tickets for $10 each at heraldnet.com/behind-the-news-stories.

We are grateful to our event sponsors: Tulalip Tribes Charitable Contributions, Marjorie Mosher Schmidt Foundation, Coastal Community Bank, Port of Everett, and Everett Community College Foundation. All sponsorship dollars support the Herald’s journalism funds.

Brenda Mann Harrison is the journalism development director for The Daily Herald. To learn more about the impact of local news and how you can join others in supporting community journalism, go to heraldnet.com/local- news-impact, send an email to brenda.harrison@heraldnet.com or call 425-339-3452.