We have a lot on our minds at the Press. A new cohort of reporters is about to join our staff after a brief but intense introduction to the craft of community journalism. Their contributions will allow us for the first time in years to reassess our coverage of town affairs and consider areas of inquiry we have allowed to languish.
Meantime, with the help of our Community Advisory Board, which is nearing its one-year anniversary, we are reviewing and updating some of our core policies, such as those that guide what gets published in the paper’s much-read police log. And we’re drafting new ones, as the technology of news gathering and writing continues to evolve. Of particular interest is the arrival of AI in the newsroom and how it can be used while maintaining the high standards that readers of the Press expect us to meet—every week.
Recently we have grappled with how much to concern ourselves with state and national politics. We do our best to be nonpartisan in our reporting, to keep our eyes on all things Harvard, but the viability of the Press depends on the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment of the U.S Constitution, and to ignore threats to those freedoms beyond the borders of our town can feel some weeks like putting our editorial head in the sand. The Press is part of a larger ecosystem of news—and also misinformation. What do readers see as its role in a time of extreme polarization and incivility?
We’d like to hear from you, and Martin Luther King Day, a federal and state holiday, seems like a good time for coffee with the editor.
Come be part of a conversation about the role and future of the Press with editor John Osborn and other staff on Monday, Jan. 19, between 10 a.m. and noon on the second floor of the General Store. We look forward to hearing what’s on your mind and how the Press can truly be your independent, trusted source of local news.