“The only people this newspaper is made for are those who buy it and read it every day. We do not care whether they agree with us or not. We want them to think with us and follow their own judgment. Our success is measured not by what we do for ourselves, but for the people who live in the community in which our activities are exercised.” — Belleville News- Democrat Editor Alfred E. Kern, editorial page of May 26, 1919
For 150 years now, someone has scribbled away at this desk, telling you what they think and hoping you join the debate.
There’s something essentially American about that process, and nothing quite as humbling as the responsibility of forming opinions that could influence what you hope will be the betterment of your community.
This newspaper was founded as a vehicle for political thought on Jan. 16, 1858. Williamson Franklin Boyakin, the Belleville Weekly Democrat founder and publisher, was a Stephen A. Douglas supporter at the time the Kansas-Nebraska Act was still the national issue, and as the Lincoln-Douglas debates were about to get under way. He was anti-slavery, but not an abolitionist, and he supported allowing the people of the new territories to decide the slavery question for themselves.
He was out of step with the abolitionists and out of step with the pro-slavery crowd. The editorials on this page have often been out of step with mainstream opinion.
As it should be.
Editorials should stir people to think and re-examine their beliefs.
They are the hallmark of a healthy, vigorous newspaper, and are the products of people who care deeply about this community. Whether you agree or not.
