Journalism is about community.

Journalists are watchdogs to protect the communities where we all reside. When there’s an election, we introduce you to the candidates in an unbiased, balanced narrative, and we moderate political forums where we ask questions beyond campaign rhetoric. We plunge through the surface-level information about school levies, bond measures, city council and county commissioner proposals to make sure you know the details that could most impact your life, your child’s education and your tax bill. 

Journalists profile people to offer a better understanding of who lives in our community, from pro athletes and high school stars, local artists and musicians to a parent coping with the tragic loss of a child, World War II survivors and people who have overcome amazing odds. 

For centuries, journalism has served its communities in this role, and it’s still the primary post of our work. These days, that’s not enough. The journalism industry as a whole is doing much more in recent years to remove the mystery of how we do the work from story start to story end, build relationships with readers and shift some of our coverage to reflect what the community wants instead of what journalists think they want.

The Bulletin has been doing the same for the past three years.

We are asking the community to help shape our coverage through surveys and stories. Two recent examples are Janay Wright’s recent question about what restaurant Bend needs next. She received more than 60 email responses and 200 Facebook comments answering the query. We included a survey asking Central Oregon residents about concerns related to growth in Central Oregon and received hundreds of responses. Your input makes a difference. Thank you! 

The Bulletin partnered with City Club of Central Oregon expand community conversations about important issues by publishing in-depth stories on important topics, then following up with a forum.

We’re bringing new events to Central Oregon, such as the Halloween Boo Bash, annual Best of the Best of Bend and a geocache tour.

Last year, The Bulletin hosted an open house for anyone who wanted to visit, tour the newsroom and talk with reporters and editors. It was such a success, we’re doing it again! Please join us from 4 to 6 p.m. on May 16 for the second annual open house. We’d love to meet more of our community.   

— Jody Lawrence-Turner

Projects editor