I’m often told by friends or those I just meet that my job must be an interesting one.

It’s true, but it can also be an intense profession where we’re constantly kept on our toes with breaking news, both in town and nationally, the latter in the sense of how we can localize a story. And we’re also challenged with what stories to report on and how to write those stories well and keep them balanced and make them thought provoking.

Reporter Samantha Pak does a solid job of this each week and we’re constantly discussing the many levels that go into writing each story and how to do things right. We’re not just writing stories, but we’re always thinking about how readers will react to stories and what kind of discussions the stories will spark among their friends and family members.

For example with the recent Orlando and Dallas shootings, we spoke intensively about how to report on these incidents. After we felt comfortable with our focus, Pak proceeded with her interviews. As the reporting and writing processes unfolded, we still touched base about the stories until they were complete. But that was only the beginning since we never know how readers will process them.

On the local front, we recently received a letter from Michelle C. Roberts thanking us for reporting on “useful and relevant news.” Examples were highlighting a Redmond police officer who purchased necessities for the children of two parents stopped for shoplifting, and offering stranger-danger tips for families while reporting on a child-luring case.

We want people to think about what’s going on in the world and in their own city with our stories. And through discussions in the newsroom and with those interviewed for the stories and comments from community members, we can learn from each other and help each other deal with things.