Support local journalism.

Supporting your paper does not mean you agree with every editorial we write or the way we cover a particular newsworthy event or meeting.

We try every day to do the right things in the right ways but sometimes we make mistakes and sometimes we decide things or write things that you disagree with. We get that.

Still, there is an important question: Have you ever thought about what it would be like not to have a community newspaper that holds local government accountable and reports what the city, county, school board and hospital authority are doing and not doing?

Have you ever thought about what it would be like not to have coverage of high school sports, school honor rolls, spelling bee winners, the success of the school debate team or to not have a place where you could easily locate obituaries, church news or community happenings?

How do you keep up with what is going on in town? Where do you learn how your tax dollars are being spent? How do you keep your eyes on local government? Where can you go to find out what county commission, city council, the board of education and, of course, the hospital authority, are doing, or not doing?

How do you follow your favorite teams? Where do you find out about concerts, plays, musicals, festivals and community events? How do you stay informed? How do you learn the health department scores of local restaurants? How do know what property is being bought and sold in your neighborhood? How do you find out about new businesses coming to town?

Your local newspaper is the one place you can find all of these things and more.

Granted, you may not agree with our stance on an issue or a political endorsement, but you know that if you disagree we will gladly publish your criticisms as well as columns and letters you submit taking opposing points of view. Who else does that?

These are some of the reasons you should support local journalism.

Your subscriptions help ensure that local journalists can be at work each day holding public officials accountable, accessing public records, attending government meetings, uncovering corruption, while also covering community events, schools, recreational activities and, of course, local sports.

With your subscriptions, you help keep an eye on the public purse and help hold elected and appointed officials accountable; you help celebrate our schools and tell the great stories of the people of Valdosta, Lowndes County and South Georgia; you help maintain a comprehensive calendar of events so you and everyone else can know all there is to do in our great community.

Maybe you don’t like the national media but your local newspaper is out in the community every day covering city council, county commission, the board of education, state government, along with positive coverage of our schools, businesses, churches, festivals and community events.

We are in the community covering things that no one else covers, every single day.

We are not saying that we uncover every single thing but we definitely do help you stay informed. Just imagine what governments might do with taxpayer dollars if they thought no one was watching, at all.

We will always give you an open and free marketplace of ideas, a forum to share your points of view through letters to the editor and guest columns both in print and online.

We are being totally transparent here and want you to know that the future of local newspapers — including this one — depends on subscriptions.

When you subscribe to a local newspaper, you are doing more than paying to get the printed edition delivered to your home each day and getting full access to all our online products and services.

For less than the price of a cup of coffee each day, you can get full access to the print and digital editions and support important work, journalism that matters, in your community.