# So are we an independent organization now, or are we still owned by that newspaper? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 23, 2023, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-we-an-independent-organization-now-or-are-we-still-owned-by-that-newspaper/995024 "2023-12-23T04:05:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 13
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2023, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-we-an-independent-organization-now-or-are-we-still-owned-by-that-newspaper/995024/13 "2023-12-24T06:27:32Z")
I asked same question a couple years ago. > [@Are we doomed? Will the SDMB die under the new ownership?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-doomed-will-the-sdmb-die-under-the-new-ownership/951883): > > So now there’s a new owner of the StraightDope. And in the [thread about it](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-sun-times-to-be-acquired-by-wbez-chicagos-npr-radio-station/951700/19) most of the posts are light-hearted and optimistic. But me, well…I’m wondering about the potential for disaster. From older threads, it seems like this site is in danger of being cancelled. There has always been a huge amount of secrecy about who owns this site,who manages it, who pays for it, who profits from it, and why they still let it operate. But from reading between the lines in those older threads, I got the … 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. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-we-an-independent-organization-now-or-are-we-still-owned-by-that-newspaper/995024)._