It’s about trust. Our relationship with our readers is built on transparency, honesty and integrity. As such, we have launched a trust initiative to tell you who we are and how and why we do what we do. This column is part of that project.

World News Day happens on Sept. 28.

Journalists around the globe are coming together to celebrate the importance of providing credible and reliable news.

As we have been reporting daily on COVID-19 in our community, the thirst for the reliable news we provide has never been more in demand and our metrics confirm we are delivering more news to more people than ever before in our history.

We have a team of 11 seasoned journalists working at Muskokaregion.com, helping you make sense of the rapidly changing world around you.

Reporter Alison Brownlee’s beat covers Huntsville, health and the district. In a recent story, she detailed a Huntsville woman’s recovery from COVID-19 and how the experience inspired her to advocate for greater health, and social and housing supports to combat the broad effects of the pandemic.

“Sharing stories of people with lived experience not only offers perspective, but increases empathy by proving the pandemic is about people, rather than faceless statistics,” said Brownlee. “Community news is so often about empathy, understanding and perspective. We learn about each other and debate ideas to make our communities stronger. The local voices at the heart of our COVID coverage cut through the hearsay, and underscore the importance of the difficult measures public health and government officials put in place.”

Reporter Sarah Law covers south Muskoka and education. A recent story she wrote speaks to the importance of our environment and how the choices we make in our own backyard can have profound effects. At the centre of the story is a local hero, the kind of person we celebrate on a weekly basis as they make their neighbourhoods a little bit better with their efforts.

Reporter Kristyn Anthony covers court, crime and breaking news. These are the stories we know our readers find fascinating and we work to give more context to these dramatic moments by telling the story behind the headlines. Just this month she followed up after two seniors were lost, and thankfully found, in the woods. It was a tale with a happy ending and a reminder that the woods we live so close to can be dangerous and need to be approached with caution.

The newest member of our team, Zahraa Hmood, covers Lake of Bays, Muskoka Lakes and Georgian Bay. Her first story for us was a tender tale of a mother memorializing the daughter she lost to suicide and advocating for changes to our health system that may save lives in the future.