Our job — our responsibility — requires us to listen to a lot of people.

Not only elected officials on our municipal boards and councils and school boards — the voices of staff and its leadership in local government and school systems and concerned constituents are just as important.

It’s a job we take pride in, and a job we feel is important — critical even — to whether our democratic republican ideals can work. Healthy, transparent public debate informs the voter and helps the voter best understand each of their own values and priorities.

Over the past few months, we’ve reported on what Terri Lauchle, as a candidate for supervisor and as an elected supervisor, often speaking in public meetings, has had to say.

At no point has either Mrs. Lauchle or any of her supporters brought us a specific, concrete concern about any direct statements or sentiments on which we were misquoting or misrepresenting her.

Which is why the Muncy Township supervisor’s insinuations at a recent township meeting that our reporting on conversations we’ve had with the township’s solicitor — conversations of which she was not part and insinuations made about an article a few moments later she acknowledged she hadn’t actually read — were somehow inaccurate struck us, frankly, as baffling or even absurd.

Over decades of our news coverage, we’ve learned to listen. When we hear from someone we’ve reported on that our coverage is inaccurate, we listen. And when a specific discrepancy can be identified and explained — when we’ve misunderstood what a state lawmaker, county commissioner, candidate, or anyone has said — we’ve reported and published follow-up coverage — articles and corrections to clarify so our audience can best understand the news of their region.

We’ve also unfortunately learned that when our critics can’t identify what exactly it is that we’ve been inaccurate about — which happens far more often — that their real complaint is that we’re willing to report on what people that disagree with them also think.

In Terri Lauchle’s case, this lesson is only bolstered by her tenure’s persistent aversion to complying with transparency measures and instead spending her time trying to corral tax dollar-paid employees into a sort of “gag order,” under which they can’t discuss township operations with us or the public.

Transparency is necessary for accountability. In the middle of sunshine week we must note that an independent media that listens — not only to one township supervisor but to her critics — is necessary for accountability. And we are proud of the work our staff does to ensure that accountability.