Joyce Terhaar - From the Editor

Some of you will remember when many newspapers were afternoon publications, or when you could choose between a morning or evening newspaper.

What does the news coverage of the former Sacramento police officer charged with rape have to do with the California Department of Water Resources' plan for two tunnels to divert water from the Delta?

Six sports journalists at The Bee picked the 49ers to win the Super Bowl last Sunday. Does that make us homers? I'd say no.

Sometimes the role of an editor is to slow things down.

I first met Tim Swanson when he stopped by The Bee's newsroom to interview me for a piece in Sactown Magazine. He was bright and engaging, the kind of journalist I'm always looking to hire.

Our newsroom mission is not just to reflect events but also to investigate problems and watch out for the community, whether the story is about holding someone accountable for a nursing home death or the misspending of public money.

This reader was angry. Now 34, he had read The Bee free online for years. And he had just discovered that – for frequent readers – it no longer was free.

Data have been a crucial part of media coverage this past election as a statistician stepped into a spotlight as bright as for any rock star.

"Before covering crime it's something I never had encountered, this idea that people had such a fear of giving their names" to a reporter.

It's convenient. It's useful. And, yes, it can even make voting fun.

When U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed last month in an attack on the consulate in Benghazi, The Bee's coverage included photographs from Libya of the violence.

Every reporter I know has always found snippets of news or anecdotes they could share with friends but never find a way to publish.

To understand how reporter Matt Weiser was able to break The Bee's state parks investigation, you need to go back a couple of years.

The Bee's Melody Gutierrez has been working for weeks to obtain documents from the Twin Rivers Unified School District that show who, exactly, has been placed on administrative leave for disciplinary reasons since this troubled district was created.

Certain political behavior has become part of our shared history – and not always because the politician involved wanted to be remembered that way.

As you walk into The Bee's newsroom this summer, one of the first things you see is a bulletin board plastered with pictures of 11 (mostly) smiling faces.

Concrete isn't a topic most journalists would choose to cover.

We tweeted the results, posted them live online, made them available by smartphone, computer and the newspaper.

More than six months after Charles Piller's first report on problems with the Bay Bridge, neither the highest officials at Caltrans, nor Gov. Jerry Brown, are publicly addressing several serious questions.

One woman emailed after an exhibit in San Bruno. Some have called after seeing photos online. Another volunteered information during a casual conversation.

Last week our newsroom said farewell to a longtime and well-known Bee journalist, Bob Shallit, who is retiring.

Plenty of you, our most loyal readers, contact editors at The Bee to let us know what you think of our front-page news judgment.