…what are the chances, costs, possibilities, likelihood, etc. of setting up a company to handle SDMB and/or Cecil’s columns as an independent entity from the Chi Reader?
Since the Reader was bought out by a bigger organization, we have been worried about what might happen. And it looks like we were right to be worried. So what are the alternatives? Brainstorm, folks!
It would most likely need to be a completely new thing – no Cecil, no columns, no “Straight Dope.” They can’t stop folks from migrating someplace all together, of course, but “The Straight Dope” is a registered trademark of the Chicago Reader, for both the newspaper column and the message board. I suppose a company could buy those, but that doesn’t seem feasible for a grassroots effort.
So we could call it, “The Whole Enchilada” by “Sontag Abend”. The community seems to be the main draw here, and there’s no reason others can take up the torch on columns. Heck, there’s two or three special reports for each Cecil column these days anyway. To me, the main loss risk would be the archives, and perhaps it would be possible to beg, borrow, or steal those?
Let’s not get up elephant guns to swat flies. Just because you’re unhappy with the lack of a stoplight at a busy intersection doesn’t mean that the solution is secession.
And please remember not to confuse the police department with the upper echelons of government. The police (moderators) enforce the rules of behavior on the board, but have no control over decisions about advertising, financing, equipment, or the like.
Second, this uproar has been, what, one day? Please, a little patience. The objections have been heard, and we are advised that discussions are occurring where they count.
I would have to do some time-consuming searching to answer your question with hard cites. But don’t you think the general tenor of the tone as passed thru by the mods is one of benign neglect towards the boards? Don’t you get the impression that Chi Reader wishes they weren’t burdened by them? Isn’t the expense a major reason why we went to a pay model?
Remember when things were slow a few years ago, and SDMB received many serious offers to help such as allowing someone to drop off a new server on the porch as a donation? Remember how rejected or ignored such overtures were?
I’ve often felt Chi Reader justifies the mods as helping to keep some distance between management and the rabble.
I was the one who said “nuisance”. I aimed my comment in the wrong direction – the Reader itself is no longer an independent actor, but a part of a syndicate.
