George Stanley: Election reporting is fundamental to democracy, and it depends on subscribers

Our nation’s founders believed we could govern ourselves if we had the knowledge to make sound decisions and hold our leaders accountable. They were students of history who had chafed under the burden of a king and his forces; they understood how those in power will abuse it once they gain control over what their subjects know and don’t know.

So, item No. 1 in our Bill of Rights guarantees the five freedoms they considered most essential for democracy to succeed: The right to speak our minds, to worship as we choose, to meet with whom we choose, to petition grievances against our government — and to receive news and information from a free, unfettered press.

If a leader becomes enraged by what those independent news gatherers report, so be it. The founders’ aim was to keep common citizens in charge. Their primary concern wasn’t for the few who would gain high office but for the great many more who did not hold power or wealth but did possess, in the integrity of their creation, the same unalienable rights as any king.

So here we are, after two centuries and more, coming upon another great election on the first Tuesday of November.

We believe it is our job, as that independent press, to report meaningful news and information related to upcoming elections, free of outside influence, so that our readers, who come from every point on the political spectrum, can make up their own minds.

You will find no other site in Wisconsin with a fraction of the election news that we’ve gathered at jsonline.com/elections. We’ve created a very handy one-stop guide that leads you to profiles of the candidates, major issues in each race, descriptions of all local referendums, even how to register and vote, at jsonline.com/voterguide.

FULL COVERAGE:Wisconsin's elections

So if you want to brush up on the candidates and other ballot issues before heading to the polls, these stories, graphics, videos and charts are as easy to find and read on a smartphone as a desktop.

We’ll provide unlimited access to our digital election coverage free to everyone Tuesday and Wednesday, dropping our limit, as a public service.

But we could not provide coverage of this breadth and depth without our subscribers.

You can see how the digital economy is transforming the nature of shopping at local stores and businesses, whose advertising long provided the financial foundation of news operations. Just look at what’s happened to Boston Store, Sears, American TV, Kmart, Circuit City, to name a few. Rather than reach nearby customers through ads in local newspapers, digital stores such as Amazon and eBay buy popup positions next to keywords typed into Facebook and Google.

That new technology is also transforming what we do, and how much we rely on you. Improvements in digital technology provide us new tools for delivering news more effectively than ever before to your computer and phone.

On election night, we'll have by far the best results site, jsonline.com/results, where you can see all the votes as they come in.  We'll have great live analysis of those returns by Craig Gilbert, Patrick Marley, Molly Beck, Mary Spicuzza, Dan Bice, Bill Glauber, Don Behm and other reporters across the state who have been covering the campaigns. 

Print subscribers have unlimited access to this digital content. They also can read an electronic edition of the printed paper when out of town. And there are special deals online through JS Insider. If you’re a print subscriber and haven't activated your digital account yet, please do so at jsonline.com/activate.  

If you’re not a subscriber, or know someone who would appreciate a print or digital subscription, please sign up today at jsonline.com/deal.

Independent local journalism is vital to sustaining an informed community, to highlighting problems and potential solutions, to keeping citizens in charge of our democracy.

Our subscribers enable this work to continue. Thank you all.

George Stanley is the editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. He can be reached via george.stanley@jrn.com and followed on Twitter @geostanley.