I like to talk to people.

Getting to know folks from the communities in which I’ve worked has been the best part of my nearly two decades working for local newspapers. I’ve learned a lot and, hopefully, have been able to share stories that others may not have known, tales about neighbors making a difference and work being done by officials.

That’s what it means to be a community journalist. It’s not a glamorous life, one with a significant amount of time spent in government meetings that most people wouldn’t attend if given a choice, one that involves decidedly more grinding than hobnobbing. The journalist’s life certainly has an impact on personal time, and it’s not lucrative for most of us.

But it’s a calling — or, perhaps, affliction could be a description for why we do what we do.

I feel fortunate to have encountered a great many people who appreciate what my papers have meant to the communities they’ve served, those who know we’re doing our best to share what we think is important for citizens to know.

That’s what has made the cries of “fake news” so difficult to hear, people accusing the “media” for making stuff up to further an agenda. I can’t speak for major news organizations — though I suspect their employees are similar to us in smaller companies — but I know that the people I’ve worked with to produce community journalism have no agenda other than to let people know what’s going on in their neighborhoods, their schools, their government.

I haven’t had a personal connection to anyone killed in tragic shootings that have taken place across our country — in schools, in churches, in city streets, in government offices or the myriad other settings that have had such horrific events take place.

That’s true, too, for the tragedy that unfolded last Thursday afternoon in the newsroom of The Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland. I didn’t personally know Wendi, a community reporter and editor. I didn’t know Rebecca, a sales assistant. Or John, a sports guy that filled a jack-of-all-trades role. Or Gerald, an editorial page editor. I didn’t know the victim with whom I share a name — Rob — and position — editor.

But I do know these people — and so do you.

They’re Darcie, our senior staff writer; Nathan and Chris, our reporters. They’re Patrick, our front page editor. Sara, the smiling face that greets people who come to our building. Cheryl and Janine, who design our pages. Mark, who helps local businesses connect with customers. Bob and Eric, who shine spotlights on all of our amazing student-athletes. George, Tracy and Julie, who get the paper out to our readers. And John, who leads our paper into the fray every day.

I couldn’t possibly offer a better insight into what it means to work for a paper like The Times Record than what Capital Gazette Editor Jimmy DeButts shared about his staff on Twitter Thursday:

“There are no 40-hour weeks, no big paydays — just a passion for telling stories from our community. We keep doing more with less. We find ways to cover high school sports, breaking news, tax hikes, school budgets & local entertainment. We are there in times of tragedy. We do our best to share the stories of people, those who make our community better. Please understand, we do all this to serve our community.”

And so do we at The Times Record. We’re human, we make mistakes, but every day we do our very best to serve our community.

Thank you for appreciating what we do.

Rob Montana is managing editor of The Times Record. He can be reached at [email protected].