Murder trials, bank robberies, arrests and the like have been on the front pages of The Valdosta Daily Times often in the past several weeks.

So have photos and stories from a variety of news events, from sports to education.

It’s all “news.” Daily events in the Valdosta area community. The newspaper is a reflection of its community, showing both the good and bad aspects.

So when individuals suggest that The Times “alter” the news in order to make the community look like it’s a happy, wonderful place to live with no crime, no sorrow, no problems, it’s the wrong thing to suggest to a journalist. The Times doesn’t make or create the news — it reports the news.

But there are still those who don’t understand the purpose of a newspaper, and it’s clearly not to be a marketing tool for the community. In addition to reporting the news of the day, a newspaper’s job as a member of the “fourth estate,” so deemed by Thomas Jefferson, is to hold public officials accountable for their actions.

To The Times and its editorial board, it’s far worse for the community’s image to have public officials knowingly lie, illegally withhold public documents and try to bully those who are only after the truth.

When officials act like they are hiding something, they usually are. You can’t be accused of lying if you don’t lie. You won’t receive an open-records request if you answer questions honestly and in accordance with the law.

Companies looking to settle in a community are understanding when it comes to crime, as it happens everywhere. But far more interesting to them is the honesty and integrity of the community’s officials.

If an entity will lie and withhold information from the local news media and the citizens, why would industry expect any different?

There was an old game show called Truth or Consequences. Too often, some entities ignore the truth and are surprised by the consequences. Sadly, the public too often feels the consequences when it could use a little truth.