Straight Dope is owned by the Chicago Reader, which is owned by the Chicago Sun-Times, which is owned by Chicago Public Media. CPM owns WBEZ and other public radio stations, the Sun-Times, and produces a bunch of programing. It’s all not-for-profit.
According to wikipedia, the sale to Chicago Public Media (CPM) went through in January 2022. CPM owns 3 NPR stations and produces This American Life. Donations are tax deductible since it is a 501c(3): purchase of the Chicago Sun-Times was backed by a constellation of philanthropic organizations and viewers like you. Thank you.
We’re “independent” in the same way an anthill in the sidewalk in front of your house is independent.
It may have been there, unnoticed, for many years, yet no matter how busily the ants scurry around, at any moment the owners might clomp down with their tremendous foot and send them into oblivion.
So if the Sun-Tribune finds out we exist and cost them $4,000 a year, they’ll shut the boards down? We’ve been here all along because accountants never looked at the books closely enough?
It was possible and sometimes imminent when we were just owned by the Chicago Reader, and now we are two bureaucracies farther from the top. I can’t believe that we’re still here to speculate.
And, yeah, I really think that the only reason we still exist is that nobody who wears a suit knows we are here.
The monthly fee to Discourse is probably ignored by the accountants, as part of the IT department’s usual expenses for subscriptions to Microsoft and anti-virus companies,etc.
And there is probably nobody from the SDMB who has ever been physically present in the office at the same time as the suits and accountants.
So…Shhhh… Let’s speak in whispers and hope they never find out.
I dunno… if we finally become able again to pay our Sustaining, erm, Charter Memberships, TPTB may be able to look into that. And we’d probably get at best some dust-covered surplus Car Talk swag.