I realized the other day that I miss Walter Cronkite. I miss the whole notion of turning on the six o’clock news and hearing a journalist give a balanced, reasoned, well-researched report on the day’s events. I miss being able to pick up a local paper and know that important stories are being covered in-depth, even if they are complex or controversial. I miss the feeling that I could trust the news because … well, it was the news, not a ratings and sales ruled infotainment extravaganza.

There are so many things happening right now that are important — and many of them directly affect the GLBT community. There’s the growing campaign for a Constitutional amendment codifying marriage as being only between a man and woman; the recall election, which threatens to oust the most GLBT-supportive governor California has had since … well, possibly ever; and former city council member John Hartley, who used to be GLBT-friendly, but is now trying to pry Toni Atkins out of her city council seat by attacking her support of needle exchange programs. On the positive side, there is the U.S. Supreme Court ruling tossing out sodomy laws that have been used to intimidate and ostracize the GLBT community for decades, Gray Davis’s promise to sign sweeping domestic partnership legislation, and the very real possibility that the Massachusetts Supreme Court may recognize gay marriage in that state — that is, if there’s no constitutional amendment to prevent it.

The fact that so much is happening makes this an exciting time to take over as editor of the Gay and Lesbian Times. It can also make it hard to keep up with what’s important on a regular basis. Life is complicated enough without feeling you have to double check every story you see or hear to make sure it’s not just the latest round of propaganda from some unidentified group pushing a hidden agenda.

That’s why we’re here. We spend our days slogging through conflicting reports to find out what’s really going on so that we can pass it on to you. We don’t put on a puppet show of sparkling white teeth, fake tans and blonde hair to distract you from a lack of content. Neither do we take every press release that crosses our desk on faith and print it verbatim as hard news. No one is perfect — not even us, but whether you love every word we write or hate it, you can be sure that we make a point of trying to get the whole story. And if you disagree with us, send us a letter. As long as you include your name and contact information, we’ll print your side. If there’s something that you think we should be reporting, let us know, we’ll investigate. We’ll still provide plenty of opinion and entertainment as well — there is more to life than just the big issues — but we won’t call it news.

The days of Walter Cronkite are gone, if they ever really existed. We’re living in an age of the “targeted message,” constantly bombarded with information designed to sway our opinions before we’re aware of what’s happening. In an age when our experience teaches us to be cynical and on guard, it’s good to know that there are at least a few sources of information that can be trusted. As editor, I’d like to continue to make the Gay and Lesbian Times one of those sources.