Letter from the editor: Our job is to help you through these historic times

I'm writing this message from my home. Thank you for inviting us into yours.

Please forgive me if this gets a bit more personal than the usual insight we try to give you into the newsroom.

These are surreal times, certainly historic times. We see our job as helping you get through them.

By that, we mean to provide the information and resources you need to try to stay healthy, to help you deal with and perhaps even grow from the isolation, and to chronicle the extraordinary news we're living every day

I'm not the only one working from home, of course. So much of the world is. The vast majority of our staff is too.

Not everyone can. Our photographers have to do what they do from the street. Our presses don't run by remote control. But the people who do those jobs are following social distancing and viral hygiene guidelines to keep them, and those they encounter, as safe as possible. I'm so grateful for that.

It's more difficult to report on the news when you're not interactive with people face-to-face, but I'm amazed at how the members of our staff have turned on a dime to reinvent the way they do what they do. And they've moved just as quickly to respond to the way the pandemic has changed your needs overnight.

I am so proud to work with them. They are dedicated to their work and they're dedicated to serving you.

Our readers have played a key role, too. Your subscription support is crucial, of course. We couldn't do what we do without it. But it's more than that. We've been buoyed by the unprecedented outpouring of encouragement we have received from our subscribers.

It uplifts and inspires us more than you can imagine. We truly are neighbors and we're all in this together. I've never felt that more deeply than I do now.

We've been able to better tailor our coverage to your needs because of the advice and questions we have received from readers like you.

Please reach out to us at newsroom@dailyherald.com if you have any ideas, tips or stories to tell. Or reach out to me personally if you prefer at jlampinen@dailyherald.com. I may not be able to get back to you as fast as I would like, but I will get back to you.

Particularly as the pandemic imposes limits on the traditional ways of doing things, we count on our readers as sources and resources more than ever.

Thank you for your loyalty. And most importantly, stay well.