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In one example of the feedback we received, Laurie Piccolo of Community Action Programs Cayuga/Seneca told ÈËÊÞÐÔ½» she had "significant concerns" about a potential loss of funding. It could impact local programs that support low-income families, children and seniors, she said, "potentially leading to reduced resources and increased hardships for those who need it the most."

We published that story on on Jan. 28, the day after President Trump's memo announcing the freeze, and we made plans to run the story on the front page of our next print edition Jan. 30. But less than an hour before press time, the White House announced it was rescinding the memo. As a result, the story never made it to print.

The sudden reversal was used by some to attack the press for reporting on the freeze, saying its stories were early and speculative. A handful of readers said the same thing about ours.

We couldn't disagree more.

There's no such time as "early" to report on something with so many staggering implications, and pointing out the important, widely used services that would be affected is far from "speculative." As the Associated Press said, the memo "set off panic and confusion across the country and raised the possibility of a constitutional clash over control of taxpayer money and expansion of executive power."

What's more, stories like ours — and there were many of them — quite possibly helped lead to the freeze getting walked back.

Dizzying as last week's sequence of events was, it underscored the active role that journalism has in the public dialogue, a role we regard as one of our greatest responsibilities.

If everyone waited to cover the freeze until it actually took effect, we may still be staring down its massive impact in Auburn and the Cayuga County area.