The first year of my professional reporting career was filled with plenty of major news stories: A pandemic, racial unrest, a presidential election, challenges to the results of that presidential election and a large-scale vaccine rollout. Hard news is and should be the backbone of what reporters do every day. It's where the impacts of local news are felt in the every day lives of our viewers and it's where we make our largest impact. Giving people the information they need, especially during these uncertain times, is why I value my role as a reporter so deerly.