What is the role of the Austin Daily Herald?

I'm sure many of you have ideas, or have at least wondered the same thing.

In short, we're here to inform and entertain. But what does that mean?

Let's start with the first part.

One of our objectives at the newspaper is to work together as a team. The cooperation from each department on every level is crucial to help us be successful.

Translated: Everyone needs to work together to help make sure you get the best local newspaper possible.

So what are we doing about this?

Two things: We’re listening, and we're wanting to know what you have to say.

News editor Cari Quam and reporter Amanda Rohde have been hitting various coffee shops each week for about the past month, gauging interest from residents on different issues.

And you never know where they'll show up next.

But one morning a week, they're out there soliciting ideas from folks (maybe even yourself), discussing issues of interest, story ideas and … well … even why we may have put in the wrong crossword puzzle.

They, along with myself, will be the first to tell you that we're not perfect.

In fact, someone reminded of this the other night at the Elks Lodge. And in front of eight other local residents, I completely agreed with her.

"We don't want to make mistakes. However, we're human, and we make them. Can't disagree. But we're going to continue to try and do our best on each issue."

Many at the table smiled and nodded their heads. Privately, I can't lie and say it was a shining moment.

But I'm proud to live in Austin and work for its daily newspaper. So, yes, there's a certain amount of pride I have in working for the Austin Daily Herald. The same can be said of our news staff, which works hard at trying to cover numerous events in a 40-hour workweek.

It's not impossible. But their creativity in finding stories and photos and figuring out a way to get them in the newspaper isn't easy, either.

That's why it makes me proud of their work and dedication to their jobs.

With that, we always look at stories that may affect our readers. And that can be quite a range. Thursday's Best of Fair section is always a hit, and we try to get as many pictures in there as possible. Others made comments on our "Air of Concern" series -- published earlier this year -- after there was talk of a smoking ban being brought before city council members.

We've redesigned what used to be called our Lifestyles section, now called Living. The Sunday section has taken a fresher look these past few months, and will continue to delve into topics of interest that our readers may not see on Page One.

Issues like summer recreation for children, or how some local barns are being converted to homes.

We've also listened to you when it came to the publication of our police reports. A few months ago, we reduced the size of the reports to allow for more news on the page. But most of you wanted us to go back to what we had, and we listened.

We're always looking for ways to improve your newspaper. Many had commented to us at the fair that they'd like to see more state and national news. We're doing that by consistently putting those items of interest on Page 2.

However, most of the news that you'll see in each issue of this newspaper will be local. We don't make any apologies for that.

When it comes to local news, club news items, area columns, society news, sports results, obituaries and local advertising, that's always going to be our foundation for what we'll give you.

We want to continue to be your choice for the above mentioned items. If there's any complaints or compliments, I encourage you to let myself or any staff member know.

Each newsroom staffer's phone number is listed at the bottom left corner of this page.

Yes, there are times when we make mistakes. But learning from them and making your newspaper even better will always be our goal.

Dan Fields can be reached at 434-2230 or by e-mail at :mailto:dan.fields@austindailyherald.com