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At one point last year, we asked members of our Readers Advisory Network to suggest improvements in our news coverage.

“More investigative reporting” came through clearly in their responses.

The newsroom editors remembered that when we decided what initiatives to take on in 2009.

Consequently, producing more watchdog journalism is one of our objectives. (We prefer the term “watchdog” over “investigative” because it is more precise about our purpose: to watch over and hold accountable the powerful institutions whose actions affect civic life.)

You have been reading the results of this emphasis:

-- Taft Wireback has meticulously detailed how the Urban Loop will run right through people’s homes and disrupt whole neighborhoods. Government protection of these homeowners has been slight, to say the least. The cost to taxpayers: millions. His latest story is on the front page.

-- For months, Gerald Witt has written about the heavy-handedness of the Guilford County commissioners as they have hired and fired people under the guise of lowering costs. He continues to write about the political expediency that drives decisions — decisions often made behind closed doors.

-- Robert Bell has aggressively pursued the burgeoning athletics recruiting scandal in Guilford County’s high schools, most notably at Northern Guilford High School. The story will be with us for awhile as the investigation expands to other schools and academics.

-- Out of Raleigh, Mark Binker has reported on the $200,000 in bonuses requested by the N.C. Banking Commission for its employees, the effort to shut down the Greensboro crime lab and the shenanigans of state Rep. Cary Allred of Alamance, who recently resigned.

-- Amanda Lehmert has done similar reporting on Greensboro government, most recently raising questions about the planning, location and supervision of the aquatic center.

-- Joe Killian has closely tracked how the state budget cuts are affecting both public and private colleges and universities. In the meantime, he wrote in depth about the attempt by Time Warner to change the way customers are charged for Internet service.

-- Lorraine Ahearn has provided a glimpse into the direct effects of budget cuts in mental health services when she has written about patients under police guard in hospital emergency rooms as they wait for an open bed in a psychiatric institution.

Not surprisingly, this coverage hasn’t made everyone happy. Some people have threatened to cancel their subscriptions. Some public officials have refused to talk with us.

But we think it is important for you to know about these things. Each story directly affects you, showing how tax money is being spent and how public officials behave.

The best journalism enhances democracy by holding the powerful accountable and by encouraging a well-informed citizenry.

We need your help in those tasks. We are smart enough to know that you know more than we do. We’re interested in your suggestions of local stories we need to look into.

John Robinson is editor of the News & Record. Contact him at John.Robinson@news-record.com and 373-7051. Join the conversation about journalism at The Editor’s Log at news-record.com