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The sight of NSW Police, Australian Border Force and US Homeland Security officers outside their windows was an unfamiliar one for people waking up in the quiet neighbourhood, but one that quickly raised concerns.

But police were quick to discount fears the raid might be terror related, and this newspaper also made that clear on relevant Facebook posts because we wanted that information to be clearly available to readers whether they were paying a subscription for our news or not.

However, it says much for the world we live in that so many people's thoughts would so quickly turn to such a scenario. But the morning raid also illustrated how much the media world has changed, and especially for those of us working in newspapers.

It's not that long ago that a newspaper journalist would not have been able to publish a single word on a raid such as Wednesday's until the next edition of the paper came out the following morning.

The internet has changed all that and now journalists working on newspapers have the ability to publish breaking stories as they are unfolding in our community.

We're now are able to immediately bring our readers the news that matters to them, but we can't do it for nothing.

The Western Advocate is proud to run the largest newsroom in the Bathurst region and our business directly employs more than 20 local people in editorial, advertising and administration roles.

Our continued viability as a business is not only important as a way of bringing Bathurst news to Bathurst people, but also as a significant contributor to the Bathurst economy.

That's why, for the past two years, we have asked people to pay to read their local news online, just as people have been paying to read Bathurst news in a printed newspaper for more than 170 years. We make no apology for that.

We're happy to lift the paywall for stories regarding public safety but, as police and our Facebook posts made clear, that was not the case on Wednesday.

So thank you to our many online subscribers and old-school newspaper purchasers who value local journalism and are happy to pay for the service.

We couldn't do it without you.