It’s always great to be recognized from one’s peers for doing good work, and we were a couple weeks ago when the Addison County Independent won first place in General Excellence at the Vermont Press Association’s annual meeting. Among about three dozens non-daily newspapers, the Independent was selected the best for its news coverage, opinion pages, community engagement, photography, layout, advertising quality and impact, and whatever else the judges factored into their decision.
That’s terrific and we appreciate the honor. More importantly, we hope you — our readers and business partners — appreciate it as well. The 20-plus employees here work extremely hard to make the Independent the best paper it can be week-in and week-out. Readers and advertisers play an important role too when they take the time to be actively engaged (write letters, share stories, encourage others to subscribe or be a part of the community discussion, thank advertisers for supporting the paper, submit photos and news items to be included, and even be a correspondent for your town.) It’s such engagement that makes the paper even better, and is the best way to thank us for doing our job well.