Years ago, when I was a reporter, a woman named Carol wrote to let me know how distasteful she found a passage in one of my stories.

"You do not write into a void!" she exclaimed in her letter.

Those words have come back to me often in considering the unique relationship between a newspaper and its community.

Journalism, I believe, exists to serve the broader ideas of community and democracy. We publish not in a one-way stream but as part of an ongoing conversation with our community; here's what we know, what do you know? Here's what we think, what do you think?

Ever since I became an editor, I've enjoyed the back-and-forth with readers and have even begun to find value in the broadsides offered by our most vehement critics.

I've come to believe a good newspaper learns even as it tells, listens to readers even as it informs them and remembers, always, the admonition offered by reader Carol: We are only one side of an important relationship.

Just this past year, I've received thousands of communications from people in the greater Bee community – mostly via e-mail but also through hundreds of telephone calls and dozens of letters.

For instance, several readers took me to task last weekend after reading my column listing additions and improvements to Bee coverage this year.

For these readers, the glass was half-empty. A few missed the way the paper used to look or shared their perception of general decline.

A larger group offered compliments or suggestions. Some simply said, "Thanks."

With a new year under way, I want to repeat The Bee's standing invitations for reader participation.

One way to take part is to attend The Bee's front-page meetings through our "Dr. Risk" program, now in its 15th year.

Participants are invited to attend a week's worth of daily news meetings, held at 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, at our midtown Sacramento offices. "Dr. Risk" is asked to weigh in on story decisions; participants also meet and talk with editors and news staffers.

If you'd like to take part, contact Tom Couzens, news editor, at tcouzens@sacbee.com or (916) 321-1097.

Otherwise, our lines are open for e-mail, phone calls, civil story comments and forum posts. and through our letters to the editor.

Changes in classified, comics

Two changes in the print edition begin this week.

First, our advertising colleagues have redesigned the classifieds to improve their appearance and readability.

Beginning Tuesday, classified will mirror the news sections with a six-column format, replacing the narrower 10-column look. The redesign offers bigger type, added spacing between lines and larger photographs.

In a separate and unrelated change, we're reducing our Sunday comics section from six to four pages beginning today.

Because "Opus" has exited, we're able to keep most of the Sunday comics, and the section will continue to feature larger-format strips than the daily comics.

We've dropped "Lio" and "Pajama Diaries" from the Sunday lineup. (These strips continue in the daily paper.)

Comics changes always draw objections, and the Sunday changes will be no exception. We won't reverse the page reduction, at least not in the short term, but will listen to comments on various strips and their merits.

To weigh in and see what other readers think, go to www.sacbee.com/forums and scroll down to the Comics section.

Reach The Bee's editor, Melanie Sill, at (916) 321-1002.