This week I attended the Ohio Newspaper Association Convention in Columbus, along with general manager Josh Morrison and advertising manager Shawn Randolph.

The theme of the convention was “building bridges to the future,” which, in the newspaper industry, is an extremely important concept to keep in mind.

One of the more beneficial discussions I took part in was an editorial roundtable meeting led by Peter Bhatia, editor of the Cincinnati Enquirer. There was a presentation about the future of virtual reality storytelling, but what really stood out for me was when all the reporters and editors in the room began discussing problems they face daily and how they handle them, as well as strategies that have been successful for them.

It was refreshing to know that some of the issues The Tribune faces are common among papers our size and even much, much larger. We talked a lot about how to keep readers and the community engaged and I’m looking forward to trying out some of the suggestions that were tossed around at the meeting.

I also found it very awe-inspiring to attend a panel discussion led by three Pulitzer Prize winners. On the panel were Kurt Franck of The Toledo Blade, who directed the Pulitzer winning series on Tiger Force; Wesley Lowery of the Washington Post, who was part of the Pulitzer-winning team at the Boston Globe who covered the Boston Marathon bombing; and Doug Oplinger of the Akron Beacon Journal, who was an editor on two of the paper’s Pulitzers.

The panelists didn’t talk about how to win awards for news coverage, rather, being tenacious at uncovering information that the readers need to know about, no matter the roadblocks. Ultimately journalism isn’t about awards. It’s about keeping the public informed.

We try very hard to keep our community informed about what’s going on across the county, but from time to time, we miss some things or just don’t have enough staff to get to every event. But the great thing about Lawrence County is we have attentive readers who will send in news tips or photos. For that, we are thankful and we hope you’ll keep them coming.

Story ideas and tips are always welcome here at The Tribune. Feel free to email them to me at anytime at michelle.goodman@irontontribune.com or give me a call here at the office at 740-532-1441.