It’s a rare thing in life to get to reintroduce yourself to someone you care about. Especially if you’re a 157-year-old media company. But for the past year or so, we’ve been working hard for just that chance. So here goes.

Welcome to the Minnesota Star Tribune! Our rebooted platform, refreshed content, and new look (and yes — even our new name!) are all part of a renewed commitment to be the best local news organization in the country. Expanding what we offer our audience is an opportunity we’ve relished, because we love what we do — and even more so, where we do it.

Our goal in this reimagination of a treasured Minnesota institution is to represent the heart and the voice of the north, which is what we think our state is to America. It’s also our new motto.

Our decision to add Minnesota to our name is a commitment to expand our work across our state, a direction we chose after two statewide tours and hundreds of conversations with our fellow Minnesotans. You told us you want to hear stories not only about what’s happening in your neighborhood but everywhere in Minnesota, and we hope to bring you a report that does just that.

It may sound curious to those who don’t live here, but we think being a Minnesotan is something like accepting a higher calling. Living in this cold corner of the country, generations before us have uniquely worked across dividing lines to build a state that works. People genuinely care about their neighbors here and work hard to build the kind of place where you want to raise your family. That’s reflected in a slew of “top five” lists we find our state published on, year after year.

But living in Minnesota means believing in both our exceptionalism and our paradoxes. We can love where we live and demand we make it better at the same time. It’s the job of journalism to shine a light on both — where we’re strong and where we need to grow.

That’s what we’re striving to do as the heart and voice of the north. Our heart is who we are as a people and as communities. Our voice is as varied as the people who call this place home. Together they make up Minnesota, a beacon in the north that has long stood out in the country as a place worth watching.

The stories we tell are your stories, and they can often help us see a way forward. We cherish that sacred responsibility and aim to deliver on it through objective, fact-based reporting. When our work is successful, it helps you understand your community better, then lets you decide for yourself what to think or do about it.

Today, there are people who will tell you that’s no longer possible. They’ll tell you there’s not just one real truth. That it’s more convenient to retreat from objectivity and to spend our time seeing events through the prisms of groups whose viewpoints match our own. Some may have even given up on the idea that a divided country or state can still find ways to come together.

We reject those ideas. We believe strongly in the power of journalism to surface the truth, and we take seriously our obligation to share it with you. And we think Minnesotans agree. In our travels across this state, what we hear most often is an urgent desire for objective reporting that can lift up a common set of facts in our communities.

This is a state that cares deeply about its future and one in which people consistently show up to vote, donate and take care of one another at the highest rates in the country. We think a strong statewide news organization is a critical part of that tradition.

We also believe that the Minnesota Star Tribune’s report should give you just as many reasons to laugh as it might give you to cry. This wonderful, dynamic, innovative, quirky and delightful pocket of the country that we call home gives us way more than 10,000 reasons to be grateful we live here. We hope to spend more time reminding ourselves why that is and sharing ideas and advice on how to live your best life in Minnesota. You’ll see that come through in our refreshed approach.

We’re reintroducing ourselves to you today not because we thought it’d be a great marketing strategy — we know Minnesotans can see past that. We’re reintroducing ourselves because we want to serve you better. A fresh take on our work is our way of showing you the urgency with which we see this moment.

Because not only do we think you should subscribe to the Minnesota Star Tribune to make your life better, but also to make your community better. We are living in a time of major disruption in media. Most of our peer organizations across the country are shedding staff at a breakneck pace — or worse, shutting down altogether. We’re reinventing ourselves to buck that trend in Minnesota, but we can only do it with your support. Quality journalism doesn’t come free — it requires resources to get it right.

If we want Minnesota to remain exceptional, we need a statewide news organization that’s exceptional. Local journalism is one of the few things that can help glue our communities together and make them feel like home. We hope you invest in yourself, in your community and in a greater state for us all by joining us in our journey.

Together, we can ensure Minnesota thrives as the heart and voice of the north.