IT'S always been one of the greatest duties of a local newspaper, and one of the greatest pleasures, to report many of the good news stories happening in our community.
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We don't resile from the fact that bad news and sad news make up a significant portion of our reporting, and our figures tell us that they are often among our most widely read and widely shared stories.
It says something of the human condition that we are naturally fascinated by hardship and, as empathetic creatures, reading about another's tragedy touches something in us.
Such news needs to be told responsibly and respectfully, but it must be told - perhaps moreso now than ever.
But even among all the gloom we've seen over the past couple of weeks as businesses have been forced to close their doors, people have lost their jobs and a new era of social distancing has changed the way we interact with family and friends, we find there are still many good stories to be told.
Even better, we can see through our social media pages and own data collection that these stories are being welcomed by our readers who, no doubt, are also looking for reasons to smile.
What better example can there be than today's story about Bathurst distiller Ian Glen (pictured) producing around 250 litres of hand sanitiser to give away to local businesses and organisations on the coronavirus frontline?
The virus shutdowns have had a dramatic impact on Mr Glen's business but rather than wallow in pity, he has found a way to turn some of that downtime into something quite remarkable for the community.
Then there was the success of long-time Bathurst business Books Plus in taking out the Regional Bookstore of the Year award last week.
People rushed to the Western Advocate Facebook page to congratulate owner Kathryn Bancroft and share their appreciation for the store.
Or what about the story of high school sweethearts Micci Hatch and Hamish Guthrie who took less than 24 hours to pull together a wedding with just a handful of guests that they live streamed on Facebook to the rest of their family and friends to share in the big day? That had to make you happy.
The last couple of weeks have been tough and there are more tough weeks to come.
But human resilience, human kindness and human spirit can help us find the light in every dark day.