# Flip This Board **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 16, 2017, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flip-this-board/786763 "2017-05-16T16:33:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flip-this-board/786763/1 "2017-05-16T16:33:41Z")
The Chicago Sun-Times is for sale. We can believe this rumor because [the Sun-Times announced it on its front page.](http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/sun-times-seeks-new-ownership-and-tronc-wants-to-buy-it/) For those of us who sometimes forget, the Sun-Times publishing empire includes the SDMB, so the Board will be changing hands once again. The early front-runner in the buying game is [Tronc](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tronc), aka, the Chicago Tribune, the Sun-Times’ rival. I’m sure TPTB will assure us that SDMB will continue to be autonomous, with no change in its basic operation except that now we’ll have the resources of an even bigger, better parent, etc. What I actually believe is that there will be no change because the new owners will practice the same level of benign neglect than the previous owners (and the ones before that), with no upgrade to software or hardware. There will be a few half-assed attempts to “enhance brand value” which will ignore the viable ideas members have suggested for many years, and end up hurting more than they help. Oh well, we’ve been through this several times before, and I’m paid up for two years, so I’m just going to pull up a chair, grab some popcorn and see what happens. Good luck to Ed, the admins, the mods, and to all of us who sees this place as something more than a commodity. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flip-this-board/786763/2 "2017-05-17T02:23:57Z")
Best wishes from here as well to TPTB from Ed to all the Mods. As for the sale in general I’m a little more meh; after all, like **kunilou** said, we’ve been here before. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flip-this-board/786763/3 "2017-05-17T03:01:15Z")
If there is anything we can do that would be of positive use, I hope Ed and team will let us know. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flip-this-board/786763/4 "2017-05-17T10:58:47Z")
It’ll be interesting to see what happens. It’s entirely possible the costs for running the board are filed somewhere boring like “IT, miscellaneous” and are low enough that no-one is really paying that much attention so nothing will chance. I’d be very surprised if we started seeing “Straight Dope Messageboard member [Username] said this about a current event…”, for example. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flip-this-board/786763/5 "2017-05-17T11:32:03Z")
I hope we’re given some sort of notice if a prospective buyer wants to drop in and look around. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flip-this-board/786763/6 "2017-05-17T13:04:25Z")
The board seems to pay for itself so it will probably be fine. But as message boards are now largely relics of the past, I doubt a new owner will much care about it. They might have some “marketing genius” that decides it should be moved to Facebook instead, that seems like the worst case scenario. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flip-this-board/786763/7 "2017-05-17T13:22:08Z")
I, for one, will welcome our new invertebrate overlords … ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flip-this-board/786763/8 "2017-05-17T14:06:01Z")
“Employee ownership.” Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flip-this-board/786763/9 "2017-05-17T14:35:03Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > “Employee ownership.” Just sayin’. Actually, in my experience, that has a pretty bad track record. Ages ago I was with a Protestant version of this that was funded by a couple of our national denominations. After the original reason for starting it all went away, so did the funding and several of the more active members “bought it out”. They asked everyone for donations and got some funds here and there but it quickly changed flavor. From there it became a short but intense series of honk-offs which resulted in the majority being moved to Yahoo and eventually pretty much kicking the bucket. A couple meetings (in SDMB terms a thread like a GD or the MMP) survive here and there from Facebook to where-ever but basically the employees killed it off. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flip-this-board/786763/10 "2017-05-17T16:54:10Z")
From what I know this will have very little impact on the status quo. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flip-this-board/786763/11 "2017-05-17T17:07:12Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > From what I know this will have very little impact on the status quo. that works for me ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flip-this-board/786763/12 "2017-05-17T17:59:00Z")
I heard that we might all get stock options in the new place if the benefits package Ed is working on for us is approved. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flip-this-board/786763/13 "2017-05-17T18:19:08Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > I heard that we might all get stock options in the new place if the benefits package Ed is working on for us is approved. Will there be a dental plan? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flip-this-board/786763/14 "2017-05-17T18:59:44Z")
So what’s the Straight Dope site and associated intellectual property worth? Maybe we could just pass the hat. > [@Crazyhorse](#): > > I heard that we might all get stock options in the new place if the benefits package Ed is working on for us is approved. 0.023% of zero is still zero. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flip-this-board/786763/15 "2017-05-17T19:54:57Z")
An interview with big wigs from the Sun Times and Chicago Tribune discussing the possibility that the Trib’s parent company might be the buyer. Neither guy mentions the SDMB. What are we, chopped liver? > **[Chicago Tonight Video Archive](https://news.wttw.com/video/chicago-tonight)** > > Watch Chicago Tonight online. ETA: The link goes to the video page, scroll down for the “Editor” video. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flip-this-board/786763/16 "2017-05-17T19:59:38Z")
It might be a Good Idea to lie low, and the new owners may not notice the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flip-this-board/786763/17 "2017-05-17T20:13:54Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > From what I know this will have very little impact on the status quo. > [@JackieLikesVariety](#): > > that works for me :dubious: mmm ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flip-this-board/786763/18 "2017-05-17T21:34:13Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I hope we’re given some sort of notice if a prospective buyer wants to drop in and look around. I’ll hide the bong if you make sure I’m wearing pants. Or, I guess I could take care of the pants thing. Either way. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flip-this-board/786763/19 "2017-05-17T21:53:00Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > The early front-runner in the buying game is [Tronc](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tronc), aka, the Chicago Tribune, the Sun-Times’ rival. This is an interesting development, given the complaints about intrusive advertising on the SDMB. The Chicago Tribune website is, AFAIK, [impervious to adblockers](https://help.getadblock.com/support/solutions/articles/6000162349-custom-filters-for-chicagotribune-com-and-other-tronc-news-sites). Go to [chicagotribune.com](http://chicagotribune.com) right now with your adblocker turned on—you’ll see ads. Lots and lots of ads. If you start browsing and reading news stories, sooner or later your browser tab will freeze from all the junky ads the site is loading. Of course, if that happens here, we’ll have yet another lively debate on paid SDMB memberships. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flip-this-board/786763/20 "2017-05-17T21:55:46Z")
We ought to do something about those Cheetos ground into the carpet. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flip-this-board/786763.md?page=2)