Why this exists

The Belvidere Wire exists to help more people keep a closer eye on local government.

I’m Michael, the creator & maintainer of “The Belvidere Wire.” I’m also the author of this page — the only human-authored page on this entire website. This all began as a script on my computer that I’d use to help me catch up on City Council meetings. I’m pretty involved in local politics, but it’s not my day job. There’s no way I have time to attend all of the meetings I’d need to to stay informed. When agendas and minutes finally make it online, everyone posts them in different formats on different sites. It’s hard to find this public information. The result is a less-informed public. “The Belvidere Wire” hopes to change that.

Assembling this as a riff on an old timey newspaper is a purposeful choice. When I saw the kind of data this was helping me discover, I knew I needed to share it with the community. What does it look like when you put together a bunch of briefs on current events for public distribution? It’s a newspaper! Well, not exactly. The concept is more that of the old teletype news wires of the 1930s — hence “The Belvidere Wire.” Pairing this site with an RSS feed, social media, and an email newsletter makes it a very 21st century newswire service — not to mention that all of the content is created by machines. American journalism has always been a powerful tool for holding those in power accountable for their actions. By using generative AI to help more people participate in government, “The Belvidere Wire” intends to surveil the government with the same tools they are using to surveil us.

Let me say a few words to concerned journalists. I can see how you may initially feel threatened by an AI news tool. Those concerns are valid. This is a bit experimental and we should always thoughtfully consider how and why we adopt these tools. My intent with making the “news” reported on this site un-copywrighted and 100% written by machine is that you will feel free to use this as a tool to help you do your incredibly important jobs. I hope it will surface the important stories that may have been buried deep within terrible government websites. I hope you’ll follow up and get the details no machine could, and that this site will have a net positive effect on the American free press.

I hope this site is useful to you. I built this for me, my friends in local politics and in tech, for reporters, and as a prototype for other communities — but most of all I made this for you — the residents of Belvidere and Boone County. These times require more of us to participate than ever before. Greedy corporations, corrupt and/or incompetent local leaders, and ignorant citizens can cause great harm to our community if left unattended. I hope this site helps more people get educated, get involved, and realize the power they have to shape the future of our county.

— Michael Hart
Creator & Maintainer of “The Belvidere Wire”

PS — “The Belvidere Wire” is an independent publication created and fully funded by me.