Timely news, lively discussion of local issues, youth sports, community arts and features and useful advertising with the best deals in town are some of the things readers count on from their hometown newspaper.

Now we’re counting on you to help make the Central Kitsap Reporter even better.

At our online news site, www.centralkitsapreporter.com, we’re asking our readers to complete a short survey on your reading and shopping preferences.

The survey will help us shape our products and understand how our community does business, as we partner with hometown merchants and other advertisers to foster a strong local economy.

Share your views with us, and you will be entered for a $1,000 cash drawing and a $500 gift certificate for Fred Meyer.

“Ensuring that we provide our communities with the local information they want, when they need it, is of paramount importance to us,” said Sean McDonald, publisher of the Central Kitsap Reporter. “By participating in this survey, you can help us ensure that we’re meeting that challenge.”

Joining with us in our market research is Pulse Research of Portland, Ore., an independent firm that works with media and retailers nationwide.

Your answers will provide valuable feedback to the Reporter staff: What do you enjoy about your newspaper? What would you like to see changed? How can we better serve the community?

The survey findings will also help your local businesses better market their goods and services. Questions include reader preferences for local and regional shopping; household purchasing plans for goods and services; your family’s choices for entertainment and travel; and basic household demographic information.

All responses will be kept confidential.

Best of all: Your participation could be worth a $1,000 prize, for just a few minutes of your time.

“Your opinion is very important to us,” said McDonald. “Take the survey and tell us what you think, and we’ll use that information to make your hometown newspaper the very best it can be.”