Community media provides a valuable wealth of information to the consumers we serve. Imagine what news would look like if residents in small rural counties, such as Charlotte, relied solely on major media networks or regional sources. Important community news might not become as relevant on the grand scale, compared to larger localities.

Author Anas Aremeyaw Anas related the importance of community journalism with his famous quote: “Journalism is about results. It’s about affecting your community or your society in the most progressive way.”

As a community journalist, I find this to be especially true due to the closeness of our community.

For citizens of Charlotte County, The Charlotte Gazette serves as an important venue to make your views and opinions heard and heard.

As a reporter, it is always necessary to present the cold, hard facts so readers may form an educated opinion on the topics at hand.

As a small county, it is even more important that residents come forth and make their voices heard on topics. In order to promote change, there must first be dialogue.

For this reason, our community media sources are essential to providing an outlet for residents of the county to create that dialogue.

In larger areas, print and television media outlets are often used as a way to shed light on a problem in hopes of fixing the issue. Your community media sources can help in much of the same way.

Feedback from the public is always a great place to start. All opinions do not have to be negative. Sometimes, just simply saying Thank you to an individual or organization in the county can have a profound effect.

Feel free to contact me if you are interested in submitting a letter to the editor, writing a guest column or if you have a story idea.

Italia Gregory is community editor of The Charlotte Gazette. Her email address is Italia.Gregory@TheCharlotteGazette.com.