Every week I ask myself how I can make the newspaper better for the citizens of this county, so it only seemed fitting in our latest reader poll to ask the community what they would like to see more of in their weekly newspaper.

Not to say I was all too shocked to see the results, but features and hard news ran a neck and neck race with the majority of you wanting more features to read weekly.

I am not going to lie and say I don’t feel the same, not only are those type of articles fun to write, but they typically leave the reader not only informed but feeling good.

Although, I do read all of your comments online, I found one this week that challenged me.

It plagued me all week long. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I did some soul searching as to the validity of it as well.

Someone dropped a line to us on Facebook stating they believe the newspaper should be for news and events, although it has turned into a school paper. At first, I was taken back a little, but thought about the comment long and hard and found I agree with the person on some level. There were several reasons why.

First, my background and former “beat” was education. It would only seem fitting I would bring that into my focus here in my new position in Jessamine County. Secondly, being the only person in the office managing the news makes it difficult to get to everything and be everywhere. Three, isn’t what our children accomplish news as well?

I found upon reaching out to the community when I first took over my role, the most responsive group was, in fact, the school district. They were not only excited about the idea of working with me on events in the district, but eager to share everything they could highlighting the students and young adults that we have here in Jessamine County.

I wish the rest of the community would do the same, and steadily week by week I have had the pleasure of talking and meeting more and more people who are reaching out asking me if I would be interested in what they are doing. My answer almost always is, “yes!”

Still, the community does need to know what is going on with the local government and people who are in charge in the county.

As a journalist, my job is to cover both like it should be, and it looks like the community wants to read a 50/50 split of the two as well.

As I push forward and challenge myself as a one-woman show here in Jessamine County to cover and bring the community a balance of both sides of the news, my hope is you all will not only be supportive, but help by reaching out and bringing me all ideas and tips in order to do just that.

My goal is to make it to as many Wilmore City Council, Nicholasville City Commission, Planning Commission, Board of Education and Fiscal Court meetings as I can.

However, being only one woman running a whole newsroom can make that task tricky, no matter how hard I try.

My door is always open and my phone is always handy with emails and calls coming in daily. Don’t hesitate to reach out and make sure your news is heard, and together we can work to make The Jessamine Journal the best weekly newspaper in Kentucky.

Brittany Fuller is the community editor of The Jessamine Journal and Jessamine Life magazine. She can be reached at brittany.fuller@jessaminejournal.com.