User:MBehunek/The Voice of Saint Lucia, The Voice (1885– )

= The Voice of Saint Lucia, The Voice = The Voice of Saint Lucia is a newspaper which started publishing in 1885 in Castries, St. Lucia, of the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is the Caribbean's second oldest newspaper.

Origins
The Voice of Saint Lucia was originally named simply, The Voice when it was first published in 1885. First published by a Mr. Robert George McHugh, it's purpose was to serve as a public speaking platform for commentary on the political changes of the time. It could be easily confused with another paper sharing the same title which was published as early as 1877 by Elwin Bennet and went out of business by the year 1882.

Political Foundations
The paper initially set out to oppose the formation of a federation between the islands of Saint Lucia, Grenada, Tobago, and Saint Vincent. The paper intended to serve as a public vessel to unify the citizens of the island in an effort to amplify their collective voice. It did not seek out any one class or another, rather, seeking to be all-encompassing. Beyond being a public speaking platform, the paper would serve to educate the public on the paper's official viewpoint that federation of the islands was not in the interest of it's citizens.

Later Political Ideals
As the paper continued to grow and establish itself alongside the residents of Saint Lucia, the papers politics also changed. Where the paper was originally founded to counter a federation movement, by the 1950's the paper had reversed this perspective entirely with firm support for the West Indies Federation. In the coming decades the paper positioned itself to discuss governmental reform as well as the Island's sovereignty in relationship to the U.K. government.