# Is it now possible to pay to subscribe to the SDMB? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 24, 2023, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-possible-to-pay-to-subscribe-to-the-sdmb/984521 "2023-05-24T15:30:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2023, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-possible-to-pay-to-subscribe-to-the-sdmb/984521/1 "2023-05-24T15:30:36Z")
Before we switched to the New Board\*, it was possible (and encouraged) to pay an annual subscription amount to the Board. I don’t think it came with any special privileges, but I like to support a thing that I use every day and value as much as I do The Dope… so has the subscription function been reinstated? I’ve seen references to such in a few threads, but I’m not sure if the references were ironic. There’s a lot of irony in this community, I’ve noticed. The subject came up a few times when we first switched, but it was always “we’re getting to that but haven’t gotten there yet.” Are we there yet? * * * * * * \*_Still miss ya, TubaDiva. I hope you’re playing in a ginormous tuba band in the Great Beyond._ ---
**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 24, 2023, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-possible-to-pay-to-subscribe-to-the-sdmb/984521/2 "2023-05-24T15:39:10Z")
Not yet and it is still on hold. I think it comes down to our Boss’s bosses’s bosses still completing the acquisition integration and we’re probably a pretty minor item on the checklist. But to be truthful, I know very little more than you know. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2023, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-possible-to-pay-to-subscribe-to-the-sdmb/984521/3 "2023-05-24T15:46:59Z")
Oh, okay. Thanks. ---
**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 24, 2023, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-possible-to-pay-to-subscribe-to-the-sdmb/984521/4 "2023-05-24T15:49:24Z")
So the SDMB is the property of the _[Sun-Times](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun-Times)_ which was aquired by [Chicago Public Media](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Public_Media). > **Chicago Public Media** (CPM) is a not-for-profit media company that operates as the primary [National Public Radio](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Public_Radio) member organization for [Chicago](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago). It owns three [non-commercial educational](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-commercial_educational) [FM broadcast](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FM_broadcast) stations and one [FM translator](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FM_translator), and produces the programs _[Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wait_Wait..._Don%27t_Tell_Me!)_ for NPR stations and _[This American Life](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_American_Life)_ which is self-distributed but uses [PRX](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Radio_Exchange) for distribution to other radio stations. > > On January 30, 2022, Chicago Public Media formally took over the _[Chicago Sun-Times](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Sun-Times)_ daily newspaper. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2023, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-possible-to-pay-to-subscribe-to-the-sdmb/984521/5 "2023-05-24T17:27:18Z")
I guess we could donate to Chicago Public Media and designate the contribution to the Straight Dope Message Board… but, on second thought, maybe it’s best to keep a low profile, below the radar, in the bushes _(and other appropriate metaphors…)_, so to speak. Probably nothing good would come from drawing attention to ourselves. ---
**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 24, 2023, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-possible-to-pay-to-subscribe-to-the-sdmb/984521/6 "2023-05-24T17:33:19Z")
I suspect that is true but once again to be honest, I have no clue. ---
**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 24, 2023, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-possible-to-pay-to-subscribe-to-the-sdmb/984521/7 "2023-05-24T18:22:52Z")
As I recall, it was paying the subscription that gave us the “Member” tag. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2023, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-possible-to-pay-to-subscribe-to-the-sdmb/984521/8 "2023-05-24T19:11:45Z")
That’s true. Back before The Shift. ---
**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 24, 2023, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-possible-to-pay-to-subscribe-to-the-sdmb/984521/9 "2023-05-24T19:16:46Z")
Is the ominous sounding “The Shift” a Stephen King novel? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2023, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-possible-to-pay-to-subscribe-to-the-sdmb/984521/10 "2023-05-24T19:43:05Z")
“Long Shift, Dad! Longer than you think!” ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2023, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-possible-to-pay-to-subscribe-to-the-sdmb/984521/11 "2023-05-24T23:37:20Z")
[Almost.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Shift_(short_story_collection)) ---
**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 25, 2023, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-possible-to-pay-to-subscribe-to-the-sdmb/984521/12 "2023-05-25T01:52:17Z")
Perhaps HP Lovecraft.