Thank you, Valdosta and Lowndes County.

We enjoyed spending time with many of you Monday evening at our Coffee, Tea and the VDT town hall meeting.

It was a great gathering and a strong representation of our community. 

Everyone in the community was invited and everyone who came was welcome. 

For those of you who were unable to make it out, we promise to do it again soon. 

The candid, open discussions were a breath of fresh air. 

Those in attendance came with thoughts to share, strong opinions, worthwhile suggestions and even a few compliments along the way. 

We were so impressed with how thoughtful, prepared and insightful each person was when sharing their point of view. We were also impressed with how cordial and nice everyone was to everyone else. 

It was a diverse group, with differing views on a variety of things, but no one was ugly or mean. 

A more civil discourse is both refreshing and encouraging. 

We could not have been more pleased. 

Coffee, Tea and the VDT is a big part of what we are calling Lifting the Veil. 

We are working hard to be more open and transparent and to bring the community inside the newsroom in real and meaningful ways. 

Lifting the Veil includes live streaming of news planning meetings and editorial board meetings, along with video editorials and a podcasting series we call “The Story Behind the Story” where editors talk with reporters about the news gathering and reporting process. 

Still, nothing takes the place of face to face personal discussions and that is what made Monday evening so powerful, in our judgment. 

During the open community gathering, we explained why we are doing these things. 

There are many reasons for it but it really boils down to about three things:

— Reporters and editors are real people just like you. 

— Transparency is crucial for trust and we think we should be just as transparent and open as we expect government to be.

— News is what people are talking about, what people are interested in and what people want and need to know. Who determines those things? You do. 

So, once again we deeply appreciate everyone who turned out and we thank you for frank discussion about the content of the newspaper, types of news coverage, letters to the editor and columns, puzzles, newspaper delivery and we appreciate the fact that you support local journalism and care enough about your local newspaper to have an opinion. 

Thank you. 

We’ll see you next time.