Jefferson Banner - About the Banner

"Error of opinion may be tolerated where Reason is left free to combat it."
- Thomas Jefferson, from his first inaugural address,
quoted on the Jefferson Banner above, dated January 14, 1864.

Reviving a Jefferson tradition in cyberspace
Once the seventh-oldest newspaper in Wisconsin, the Jefferson Banner published from the 1850s until the late 1980s. Now it lives again in cyberspace! It will become your best source of up-to-date information for events in the Jefferson area.

The new Jefferson Banner will make the best use of Web technology. For example, instant publishing. The minutes of government meetings will be available within 24 hours, not days or weeks.

With online community message boards, citizens can read about and debate public issues without the usual delays in submitting letters-to-the-editor. 

Searchable archives of public records
Public records, news and opinion articles can be archived, indexed and searched in ways not possible with traditional media.  For example, here on goJefferson.com you can easily read and search the past three years of County Board minutes and Jefferson City Council minutes.

Until now, this ability has only been in the hands of the clerks who type these minutes on their computers.  Until now, searching for the details of government activity meant traveling to a public office during business hours, then paging through endless paper records.

Archives of news from other media
You've probably noticed that many of the stories in your local newspaper are written by wire service companies like the Associated Press. Similarly, the Jefferson Banner is happy to republish (with permission) the stories from other local media. Publishing on the web also means audio and video, not just print.

 

WFAW Highlights with RealAudio  

To play these clips, you must install the free RealPlayer G2 plug-in from www.real.com.

These clips are provided courtesy of Fort Atkinson's WFAW radio, AM 640 and 106.5 FM, and WKCH in Whitewater.  WFAW broadcasts local news every half-hour between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m., at 12:20 p.m., and at 5 p.m.   WFAW is a Marathon Media station.

July 14, 1999 Noon news - Featuring coverage of the controversy regarding the Johnson Creek casino, an introduction to goJefferson.com, how to receive police training, and more.  This is a 1.3 meg download, and plays for approximately 11 minutes.