The conversation this past week on a proposed data center project at the former Centre Foundry site on River Road in Warwood has been dominated by something other than facts — primarily, speculation.

Since Saturday, rumors on the potential project spread very quickly. Information found online about data centers amplified concerns. An impromptu town hall even took place at the Warwood Vets on Tuesday, with a state senator and state delegate in attendance. Both admitted they knew absolutely nothing about the proposed development yet offered their thoughts anyway.

In the absence of clear communication from the company proposing the project — can we even call it a project right now? — all anyone had to go on was another company, Stokes Energy, and its announcement that it was hired by Silicon Foundation to build a data center there.

In the absence of real information, people naturally filled in the blanks themselves.

That is almost always what happens when information is absent.

Now, however, the discussion — and the company’s intentions — has taken an important step forward. A representative of Silicon Foundation has gone on the record with this newspaper, explaining that the Warwood facility is intended to manufacture modular units for data centers, with a phased plan that could eventually include a larger computing campus. Whether residents ultimately support or oppose the project, there is finally something far more valuable than speculation: verifiable information.

That distinction really does matters.

In the news-gathering business, our responsibility is not to report what people fear, hope or speculate. Our responsibility — particularly in a matter such as this — is to report what we can verify. We ask questions. We seek documentation. We contact those involved. We update our reporting as new facts emerge. Sometimes those facts confirm public assumptions. Sometimes they contradict them.

Either way, our obligation is to the truth.

That is why this latest reporting from reporter Eric Ayres is so important. It provides information directly from a company representative rather than relying on secondhand accounts or online conjecture. It doesn’t answer every question, but it moves the public conversation from rumor toward reality. And it puts Silicon Foundation Energy on record with their intentions.

In fact, we learned Friday that Silicon Foundation’s Andrii Garanin will be Wheeling next week to meet with city, county and state leaders. That’s another big step forward.

Still, the communication failures that allowed this confusion to flourish cannot be ignored, particularly given the concerns communities around this nation are expressing with data centers.

Silicon Foundation should have been engaging the community much earlier — and it should have been better at managing the companies working with them and the information they’re releasing. A project of this magnitude deserves openness from the beginning. Residents should not have to piece together information. They deserve to hear directly from those seeking to invest in their community.

Likewise, local officials have a responsibility to keep residents informed about significant developments whenever possible. Even if our city officials do not yet have every answer, simply acknowledging what is known, what remains unknown and what the review process will involve goes a long way toward building public trust. Silicon Foundation’s Garanin said the company met with 10-15 local leaders in May. We know Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron was one, as was Mayor Dennis Magruder. While it’s not their place to break news on this project, they could have helped clarify what was taking place once information got out. Herron did with our reporter on Monday, and Magruder offered his thoughts on Thursday.

In this day and age, silence rarely calms concerns. Transparency usually does.

Fortunately, there still is an opportunity to improve the process.

As Garanin noted, Silicon Foundation is willing to hold a public community meeting in Warwood before the project moves much further. When that happens, company officials should present their plans, explain what the facility will and will not do, outline timelines, discuss infrastructure needs, answer questions about traffic, utilities, employment and environmental impacts, and listen to residents’ concerns.

Communities are far more likely to embrace change when they feel respected, informed and included in the conversation. That’s something that always hasn’t been the case. That must change — and fast.

Whether this project ultimately proves to be transformative or simply another industrial redevelopment, or if it ends up going nowhere, the public must be involved.

So, as we move this ahead, the lesson from the past week is a simple one.

When facts are slow to arrive, misinformation fills the void. The best way to prevent that isn’t better rumors. It’s better communication.

That’s something all involved parties must remember as this potential project progresses.

Clear and effective communication with the community will allow everyone there to understand what’s happening.