Today we officially begin a new era here on BikePortland.
After a decade of providing news, information and inspiration for thousands of readers like you every day, it’s time to take an exciting step together.
We have launched a new subscription program that will give you a new way to help us continue our momentum. As I hinted at last month and as you can hear in the video above, relying solely on banner ads to support this business is not sustainable.
We want to continue our important work and we want to exceed your expectations of what a transportation blog can be. But to do that, we need you to sign-up today to become a BikePortlander.
Why sign-up? BikePortlanders get the following benefits:
— Create Your Own Posts: You’ll be able to log-in, create, edit and then submit your own posts that will be published directly on BikePortland.org. Only subscribers can create posts, but anyone will be able to read them and comment on them. We’ll share the best posts on our Front Page. (See the first few BikePortlander Posts.)
— Get Discounts and Deals: BikePortlanders will have access to our Deals & Discounts page where you’ll find coupons and special offers from our local business partners.
— Shaded Comments: As a BikePortlander, all your comments will be lightly shaded a different color to help them stand out from the crowd.
— The Street Beat Newsletter: If you kept up perfectly with all the Portland news that matters, you’d never have time to get out for a ride. Street Beat is a pithy, upbeat summary of the Portland news you can use in your low-car life: biking, transit, walking, land-use, real estate, urban design and more, including links to the best reporting of the month from BikePortland and every other news outlet in town.
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How much does it cost?
BikePortlander Basic – $10 per month ~ Join at this level and you’ll rest easy knowing that you support BikePortland’s unique brand of independent advocacy journalism.
BikePortlander Spokesperson – $20 per month ~ Join at this level and you’ll be a crucial spoke in our wheels, helping us to roll toward an even better and brighter future. With each person who signs up at this level we’ll add their name to a spoke on our wheels of progress. When we reach 32 Spokespeople we’ll build a real wheel and host a party to celebrate. Over time, these wheels will symbolize the strength of our community.
BikePortlander Business – $30 per month ~ Business supporters get a link in our sidebar, a BikePortland window decal and/or website badge (to show off your support!), and a listing in our new and improved bicycle business directory. Business supporters will also be able to post their own news and annoucements in the BikePortlander section.
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Since we launched this program at our 10th Birthday party on Friday night (stay tuned for photos and a recap!) nearly over 90 people have already signed up! You might have noticed how their comments are shaded light grey and a few of them have already been published on our new BikePortlander Posts section.
Now it’s your turn.
To help kick things off we have a special offer:
— The next 100 people who sign up at the $10 level will get this awesome Bridges of Portland poster created by one of local business partners Fat Pencil Studio.
— The next 50 people who sign up at the $20 level will get a $20 credit to spend at any Bike Gallery store.
Thank you for reading and supporting our work all these years. Please sign up today and help us continue “to inform and inspire” well into the future.
Thanks for reading.
BikePortland has served this community with independent community journalism since 2005. We rely on subscriptions from readers like you to survive. Your financial support is vital in keeping this valuable resource alive and well.
Please subscribe today to strengthen and expand our work.
Woot! I just signed up, does that mean that the dastardly imposters that are using my username will now be banned from posting as me?
I guess I should have logged in before posting the above 😉
happy to be a member and for this program to get off the ground. good work!
Hey I’m not a special color 🙁
Does a subscription come with an option to disable site advertising?
Hi Buzz,
Nope. Not at this time. Appreciate the feedback. FWIW We need our ad partners in order to survive and they are key parts of how this business works.
I have always tried to keep the visual experience of bikeportland as respectful as possible — and that includes not having annoying ads.
My hope is to work with a very select group of advertisers and integrate them into our business in the most effective way possible. If you have input on how we can do a better job at that, I’m all ears.
Well, I would classify those 2nd Ave Dental ads as annoying. I also feel if a site is accepting subscriptions, being able to not have to see adverts is an important perk for subscribers, and should be offered.
If the ads bother you, try using the Reader view in your browser: most BikePortland pages display really well in that mode – without ads. Yes, toggling Reader view on/off, isn’t as nice as not having ads but if BP needs the ad revenue, it’s a small inconvenience for me.
Particularly as you move toward this kind of model, it would be great if you culled the large mosaic of ads you currently have, moving toward a more targeted, higher-cost ad base. Though looking at the page today, right now, it already looks lighter than it has been.
Look at someone like The Deck and strive to be like them: http://decknetwork.net (it’s too bad there’s not a Deck-like network for bike sites).
Ditto
The animated sidebar ads are very annoying and distracting. I only use adblock on sites with annoying ads, and I did end up blocking the GIF ads (but not any of the others) on bikeportland… for example the rotating Orp ad was very distracting to have flashing and moving around in my peripheral vision on every page.
I can’t help but see the subtle irony in that… 😉
Hey, I lost my username!
BOOO.
*sigh*
Evil laughter 😉
I signed up after the party but before the bridge poster offer… can I unsubscribe and then resubscribe to get a poster? (:
it was a no-brainer to subscribe since this is the first website I go to for checking local news that’s relevant to me, even if bicycling is my smallest mode share… most of the articles also relate to me as a transit user and pedestrian, and occasional driver…
I never learned so much about motor vehicle law until I stopped driving and started getting my life threatened daily by motor vehicles… amazing how quickly you learn the laws that effect you most… now if I could just get drivers to obey those laws…
Is it tax deductible?
No Chris I. Not tax deductible.
BikePortland is not a non-profit. Never has been, and we don’t currently have plans to become one.
With the new direction of Bike Portland, I am kind of reminded of the Monty Python skit where the client pays a therapist to provide him with an argument and only gets contradictions instead. Although I may still lurk the site from time to time, I am not yet in need of paying a fee for a discussion only to have an argument instead. Perhaps I am wrong but I believe this format will limit diversity of opinion. Mine however will be one less contrary voice that will likely not be missed. Good luck with the monetization of the site though. I hope that it turns out well for you!
Did anyone say that you couldn’t continue to comment?
Who are you replying to? I can only see shaded comments now.
Is this a joke?
I was replying to Barney.
Yes, someone said that in the original article. Only supporters can comment. Limits dissent that way. BUT, if BP can get enough folks to pay, that’s good. If I could get people to pay to read my opinions, I’d do it – it beats working for a living…………
Just joking – the articles on here are well done, even if sometimes biased – I know they take a lot of time/effort.
🙂
I stand corrected, it says anyone can make comments. Only members can create posts.
You poor suckers may actually have to read my mean, evil, truthful comments after all!
Two out of three ain’t bad.
Thanks but no thanks.
I think offering a subscription is a great idea. The shaded comments make me feel uncomfortable.
I heard or read recently that something like 90% of people who read? comment? on bikeportland.org are men? white men? one or the other. I think that it would be interesting to see a free or steeply discounted subscription option for women and people of color. Statistically speaking, both of these groups tend to be lower income than white men, and it’s not like it would really cost Bike Portland much if these are people who aren’t already participating on the site, and it would go a ways to diversifying the commentary.
I enjoy reading the articles that are currently posted to Bike Portland, and I would also enjoy reading articles from a wider variety of perspectives.
Hi Angel,
Thanks for the comment. I think you heard that stat about commenters from me. You and I were talking about this issue recently and I said that I was worried because I’ve been noticing our comment threads sometimes “feel like 90% men.” I completely agree with you that it would be great to see a wider range of perspectives here on BikePortland — both in the stories and in the comment threads and I’m trying to make that happen.
You bring up a good idea about offering discounted subscriptions. We will keep that in mind… But remember that I’ve tried to set this up in a way that doesn’t exclude anyone but at the same time offers a few fun things to folks that do support the site financially.
As for your discomfort about the shaded comments, is it because you feel they create some sort of divide between those who pay and those who don’t? If so, I totally hear where you’re coming from. That’s a concern of mine too, but for the time being we’re going to try it out and see how it goes.
Thanks again for the comment. And thank you for volunteering recently!
Shaded comments: I can relate to the desire to test things and see how it goes. I believe that the intent is to be a thing you can offer to subscribers, and something to help non-subscribers realize that they too could subscribe. (I wonder if it might have more subscription awareness impact if it showed up only once or twice a year.) I sat down and tried to articulate my thoughts about shading as it relates to class, gender, and race (in case it could be useful), and this is what I came up with:
Not everyone can afford to subscribe to bikeportland.org. $10/month may be a reasonable amount to ask of someone above the poverty line, but I’m sure you’ll agree that not everyone can afford a subscription, since to my understanding that’s why you left comments open to all Bike Portlanders. Women make less money than men. This is a fact of the USA. People who are black are twice as likely to be unemployed as people who are white. This is also a fact of the USA. And so forth. While we all love your website and want it to thrive, for some people, it’s going to be a choice between a subscription and something less optional, like dinner or babysitting, or catching trimet.
I see comment shading as something that emphasizes the opinions of people who can afford to subscribe to bikeportland. When I was reading comments in this very thread, I found my eyes skipping to the shaded comments, and I had to force myself to go back and read the unshaded comments.
Shaded comments: I can relate to the desire to test things and see how it goes. I believe that the intent is to be a thing you can offer to subscribers, and something to help non-subscribers realize that they too could subscribe. (I wonder if it might have more subscription awareness impact if it showed up only once or twice a year.) I sat down and tried to articulate my thoughts on comment shading as it relates to class, gender, and race (in case it could be useful), and this is what I came up with:
Not everyone can afford to subscribe to bikeportland.org. $10/month may be a reasonable amount to ask of someone above the poverty line, but I’m sure you’ll agree that not everyone can afford a subscription, since to my understanding that’s why you left comments open to all Bike Portlanders. Women make less money than men. This is a fact of the USA. People who are black are twice as likely to be unemployed as people who are white. This is also a fact of the USA. And so forth. While we all love your website and want it to thrive, for some people, it’s going to be a choice between a subscription and something less optional, like dinner or babysitting, or catching trimet.
When I was reading comments in this very thread, I found my eyes skipping to the shaded comments, and I had to force myself to go back and read the unshaded comments. I see comment shading as something that emphasizes the opinions of people who can afford to subscribe to bikeportland.
Thanks for your feedback Angel. We’re making lots of adjustments as we hear input like yours. I understand your perspective on this and share some of it myself. We’ll get the right balance on the issue of demarcating comments for subscribers very soon and hope you’ll continue to share your thoughts.
just for the record, as a woman, minority, and longtime reader, I’ve no problem with giving credit to those who support the site via shaded comments, and since i did make a contribution initally i don’t feel like i’m freeloading in making this comment. I do have a problem with mean , snarky comments on this site esp. the car hater type ie cars as “death machines ” come on ! Some of us do have reasons for still owning a personal vehicle such as driving elderly parents to dr. appts grocery shopping etc. Its also nice to be able to access hiking and ski trails, and without a smartphone one cannot use “car to go” etc. The unfriendiness of some of the folks on bikes is the biggest reason i don’t feel part of the community, not just the comments but rude, inconsiderate behavior in the bike lanes etc. It doesn’t make me want to participate in any of the bikey, cultural events either, the color of my skin has nothing to do with it. Call it the “hipster” effect but portland seems to have become a much less friendly place in general, in the last 10 years or so. That said this site is a great resource for any news affecting bike commuting, so keep up the good work and thanks !
Thanks for your support and your comment Anna G.
I have a problem with mean comments too and we do our best to moderate/delete them. Please contact us if you ever read a mean comment and I’ll take a look at it right away.
Hi Dead Salmon,
I’ve deleted your comment because it was mean. Please watch your tone if you’d like to continue to comment. Thank you. — Jonathan
For the first few days of the “BikePortlander Posts” page there was a link to Jonathan’s 2008 post about his philosophy for comments on his website. I thought it was great to have that up prominently like a “sticky” where posters could find it easily, and I hope it gets linked somewhere permanent and visible. Below is the gist of the post but it’s well worth reading the whole post for context:
http://bikeportland.org/2008/08/06/a-few-words-about-comments-8330
Wouldn’t that equate to charging a surcharge for being born a white male?
I hope you understand that pricing a service differently based on a consumer’s gender or skin color is actually illegal in this country. For those who are “well off” and find value in this website, there’s the “donate” button.
Yah, I honestly spend more time reading and commenting on BP than on the NYT., and the BP subscription is cheaper, so subscribing was a no-brainer for me. Anyway, the Gray Lady doesn’t need my money, they seem to be doing just fine.
Having said all that, I am pretty neutral on the idea of the shaded comments. If you see it as giving paid subscribers more weight in the discussion, then maybe they’re not such a great idea.
I don’t think it’s about given them “more weight” in the discussion with shaded comments… It’s merely something we thought would be a fun enhancement for subscribers and a way for us to market the program to other readers and encourage them to join in and sign up.
Put ‘yer money where ‘yer mouth is.
Perhaps a lighter touch than the full gray background.
Perhaps a little semi-inconspicuous badge would be a better compromise than coloring the background.
Hi Paul,
We are actually going to be putting a little badge next to the subscribers usernames/pics very soon. We hadn’t thought of doing that instead of the color shading, but we could certainly entertain that idea now that you’ve mentioned it.
I can’t get over that the AASHTO Green Book and the Highway Capacity Manual is behind Jonathan’s right shoulder.
That was an easter egg Peter. Congrats on finding it!
I stand corrected, it says anyone can make comments. Only members can create posts. So, NO CHANGE, if you don’t want to pay you can still comment!
You poor car-haters may actually have to read my mean, evil, truthful comments after all! PARYAY IS OVER! THE truth-telling DEAD FISH IS BACK! Dang it!!
🙁
There’s people for whom $120 is a lot of money. For them, if its a matter of budget priorities, for example, that amount is the cost of a dental exam and teeth cleaning…at the dental school, rather than at an outside practice.
The site, reporting, and discussion opportunity seems good value, so if I had the money to spare for a subscription…and I expect many people do… I’d likely spend it…even though it seems the self-publishing option would not be extended to me. At any rate, that’s a situation I don’t particularly mind.
By the way, I’d suggest as some people here already have, going with a slightly lighter grey background for the subscribed members comments; or skip it entirely, stay with the white background and go with the little badges being considered. The dark grey seems to make reading the text less easy.
Lighter gray background is definitely better. The thin red border, kind of grating. Width is ok, but at least, a different color border, maybe light green, light purple.
I immediately compared it to my support of OPB public broadcasting which I use extensively. I do $8/month for them or $96/year. Honestly I’m a little blocked about paying more for BP than OPB. May just stick with our business donation. I’ll mull it over, thanks for everything you do!
So pay you to make content that you then get (perhaps little) ad revenue from?
I’m proud to subscribe to BP. I signed up on the first day. I’ve said before and I’ll say again, probably more than once, that I get more value out of this site than any other I visit. If it takes a combination of ads and subscriptions to make it work, I have ZERO issue with that.
People complaining about these changes don’t seem to appreciate how intensively you both work at this, what expertise and talent and hard work you bring. Why on earth should all that be free to end users? It’s pretty widely recognized that the days of ad revenues supporting full-time sites are ending.
I think it’s great that non-subscribers can still read and comment. I see my contribution as helping to cover costs of this great service, including the cost of hearing differing opinions and voices, some of whom can’t pay.
New to Portland and just signed up, glad to be a supporter! How do I add a picture to this thing? Nothing obvious in “edit profile”.
Thank you Jack! Looks like you figured out how to add your picture. We’d really love it if everyone took a few seconds to add their avatar photo. it really makes this more of a community when there’s a face to go with the words.
In an era when images are characterized and searched and correlated just as easily as words, some of us have reasons not to – nothing personal.
What’s it cost to get tan comments? 😉 On the other hand, if everyone has gray comments, white comments may stand-out. 🙂
Which is to say I think a badge is more appropriate and scales better than shading; would allow having tiers: silver, gold, and female, for Ms. Angel, of course.
One more. What do anonymous comments cost?
A BikePortland subscription is definitely on the list of things to do when I have income again! You and StreetRoots are my two favorite news sources.
That said, comment shading looks a bit strange to me. I’m accustomed to shading indicating a “best answer” or “popular comment” on other sites.
Most of the community sites I know of that have a subscription program use badges or similar. I’ve also seen forums give a “tagline” of sorts under the user photo – either a predefined indicator of the level of support (member, spokesperson, business) or a short phrase, often humorous, that the user can write themselves (e.g. “Dead Salmon – Mean, Evil, & Truthful” or “Dan – The One and Only,” to imagine some examples from this thread).
Still, it’s a relatively minor quibble. Whatever y’all do with the comments, I’m hugely appreciative of the great reporting on BikePortland, and I hope to see it continue and grow for decades to come.
Congrats! I want to sign up but wondered about what kind of security you’ve got (I’m nervous about giving out sensitive info online). Also-it’d be my preference to just forgo the special shading altogether (and no need for a special tag or symbol either, as far as I’m concerned). I appreciate the thought but it makes me uncomfortable and doesn’t seem necessary. And visually it is a bit of a stumbling block. p.s…I sang the Masterpiece Theater theme in my head throughout your fab video. 🙂
Congratulations! Keep the news coming.
Is there any chance you would open up your books to us? I feel a little weird about donating money to a for-profit company without understanding where my money would be going. While I’m sure this isn’t the case, you guys could be making 6 figure salaries for all I know.
My goodness… How about you swap out “donating money to a for-profit company” for “paying money for a service from a for-profit” company?
If I “donate” a $1 to McDonald’s I don’t insist on knowing the CEO’s salary!
You are not donating to them, you are buying a product: the subscriber benefits.
It’s not a donation – that would be to a non-profit.
It is a subscription, monetary payment in return for benefits not available to non-subscribers.
Many ‘newsletters’ use this model, start for free, get to a set level of ‘users’, or time on-line, then introduce a fee for service.
Both NPR and the New York Times are supported partially through user funding, not to mention every magazine in the world…is this model really that unfamiliar? If you get value from the site, why wouldn’t you pay?
NPR is a non-profit, and I do donate to them. The New York Times isn’t and I don’t pay a dime for it. I also don’t eat at MacDonald’s or anywhere like it. I was asking for transparency because I thought this was a different sort of business with a different sort of model. Apparently it’s not, which is cool, but I don’t really see the need to pay $120 a year to support it.
You seem to be feel there is some moral high ground to be found based on whether or not an organization has 501(c)3 status, which I don’t really understand. Both of those organizations pay salaries to their employees, and senior staff at NPR are paid just as well as they would be at the NYT.
Here’s a thought experiment. Suppose that Jonathan got 501(c)3 status for BikePortland. I think he could qualify as an educational organization assuming he was willing to take the time. Then he continued doing exactly what he does now — running ads to defray costs, and selling subscriptions / accepting donations to make up the rest. How would that be different from your point of view?
He could form a 501(c)3, give himself a bigger salary, and then enjoy some tax benefits (and probably more people willing to donate). In the end, he could be taking home even more money, but at least it would have to be disclosed publicly.
I appreciate all of your feedback about how I run the business.
Dan and Endo, please be nice to each other. Thanks.
I have thought about becoming a non-profit many times in the past but have always come down against it in the end. Mostly because it’s more complicated and it would make me feel less independent. I realize it has many benefits, but so does being a private business. The way we operate now we are extremely nimble in what we do and what we say… and I love being 100% independent.
A 501c3 has to submit financial data, including wages for upper management and key employees. The reason I give to OPB is because I know that they do a good job of plowing donations back into the core mission of the program and not into executive compensation. If BikePortland was a 501c3 I would know whether or not that was the case here as well. They’re not though, so I thought I’d ask if Jonathan would be willing to operate his business transparently. He said no, so I choose not to pay to be a member of the site.
So in just a few clicks I found that OPB President & CEO Steve Bass made over $350K last year. Maybe Jonathan is in the wrong business…
Not sure what you have against 6-figure salaries and/or profitability, but it all comes down to value. If you don’t see value in what’s reported here, stop reading and don’t subscribe. Otherwise, there’s always the donate button, where you’re free to choose the amount you feel appropriate.
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/930814638
“So in just a few clicks I found that OPB President & CEO Steve Bass made over $350K …” Pete
I get a lot of enjoyment and information from OPB, though since I don’t donate money to OPB, I don’t feel I’ve got much right to complain. Still, those kind of salaries paid to non-profit employees have me feeling uneasy. I hope the CEO’s efforts are worth the money, and that this isn’t just another example of someone pulling in what they do because that’s what the market will bear.
It’s not that unusual for an organization that size, which is why I found it peculiar that the OP was concerned that JM may be overly profiting from BP while pointing to NPR as an example. This is in line with what many public school administrators make as well.
Frankly I hope JM is making six figures by the time his little ones are ready for college… 😉
Good point, Jonathan is probably siphoning the firehose of BP cash into secretive right wing PACs and a $2m personal residence. LOL.
I’m not sure what you think is going on here: the site has one full time employee, who is also the owner. He is the only executive and the highest-output writer…so…how do you see donations not being plowed back into the core mission? They are paying his salary so he doesn’t have to go work on something else. Pretty sure he doesn’t pay himself anywhere near the <a href="http://www.andymboyle.com/2013/07/21/an-updated-look-at-ira-glass-and-other-public-media-salaries/"highest salaries at NPR
Not wanting to commit to $120/year is one thing, and I respect that. Seeing shadowy plutocratic shenanigans everywhere is just being silly.
Where do you see me spouting conspiracy theories? I don’t have to spend money to participate in the site. If they’re unwilling to be transparent about the way they operate then I choose not to send them any money. That’s the whole story.
To be honest, I don’t understand why my desire for public disclosure would result in a personal attack from you. It’s not as if I were particularly nasty to the site or the people who run it. Is the idea that a consumer might dare ask a private business to open their books that heinous?
It just seems nonsensical to me to think that 100% of revenue is not plowed back into BP’s core mission. Do you refuse to buy books until the authors publish their 1040s?
“…If they’re unwilling to be transparent about the way they operate then I choose not to send them any money. That’s the whole story. …” Endo
Interesting. And fair enough, maybe.
Don’t know much about it, but for stock holders, aren’t the quarterly and annual reports a kind of transparency? For the money they pay for stocks, stockholders don’t get to know how company execs spend salary money they company pays them, but they do get to know business related numbers…gross and net income, overhead, capital investments, etc.
Endo…what are some reasons you think transparency of this weblog’s operations should be open to people contributing money as subscribers?
I’m not asking for BikePortland’s operator(s) to explain how the salary they pay themselves. I’m asking for basic information that you can get from publicly traded companies and non-profits: how much they take in, how much they spend, and what the money gets spent on. Did the website choose to take all of the subscription money and choose to pay the president? Did they take that money and hire other correspondents? Did they pay for additional server space? Etc.
For what it’s worth, while others may see this as a subscription, I see it as a donation because I don’t get any material benefit out of paying. I can still read the same articles and post to the comments sections, all while viewing the same ads subscribers see.
As I’ve said repeatedly, I don’t begrudge the site operators for keeping the info private, but if it remains private I don’t see the need to support the site.
Would you ask Vanilla to open their books to you before buying one of their awesome bikes to shred on?
“Seeing shadowy plutocratic shenanigans everywhere is just being silly.”
I would love to see shadowy and plutocratic NPR open it’s books!
http://www.cpb.org/ombudsman/display.php?id=235
Fantastic link, Soren. Thanks.
NPR is run by a bunch of scoundrels, going way back.
Hi Endo,
I don’t feel like it’d be the right decision to open up our books to a complete stranger. And you should consider this as a purchase of a product that we create for you, not as a donation.
As for your final comment… there is no “you guys” in this business. Just me. I am the sole employee. Michael Andersen is a half-time contractor who we pay to help us create our product.
And FWIW I’m not making a “6 figure salary” .. not even close! Not that there would be anything wrong with that if I was… but for now my priority is not making a big salary. My priority is first to support my family and then to keep building our team (I would love to hire Michael full-time!) and making the site as great as it can be.
I was skeptical. But after reading these comments, I don’t think the shading gives those comment any greater weight. It Just because they subscribed, they are not better or worse.
The shading conversation gives me boyd’s toast style flashbacks of theoatmeals design_hell. Feat req., can I swap my BP badge with a picture of miffles? It’ll make the page pop.
Thanks for all your hard work guys, this sub experiment prodded me enough to finally register after way to many years of lurking.
I agree with, and thank, the folks who remind us that for some folks $120 a year is simply too much money. And I’m afraid that, until my own “revenue stream” stabilizes more, it’s too much for me.
That said, this is all about choice. The internet remains, by and large, free and open (as it should!). We are all free to view and comment wherever our clicks will take us without demanding fee-for-service. So no sour grapes here. (Even though part of The Great Streamlining seems to have meant removing links to business and bicycle blog sites in the sidebar.)
Best of luck with your project, Jonathan, and happy riding!
Thanks for all the comments. Michael, Steve Bozzone (our web developer/designer) and I continue to read them and we are taking your input to heart.
Perhaps you haven’t heard that ad revs have been trending down, down, down across the internets. Even very popular, successful, non-niche sites have experienced vastly reduced income over the last years. This has had their founders scrambling to find new sources and models that will allow them to keep publishing quality content. Perhaps Jonathan waited “this long to say this was a problem” because now is the moment it has become an acute problem.
Regardless, if you care about/are interested in cycling in our city, BP is a GREAT RESOURCE – a daily resource for many, judging by the regulars who enjoy commenting here. Why would you not want to support it IF YOU WERE ABLE? The pushback that I’ve read on this thread around supporting a resource that serves our community and encourages participation is truly astounding to me.
If you value BP (I do) and want it to continue to exist (I do) why not support it if you can, instead of asking to see its financials, criticizing its biz model, etc. Geez.
I’m not a fan of the gray highlighting of subscriber comments for much the same reasons as angel. If you really want to attract subscribers I think enabling transient editing of comments would be far more attractive than highlighting. I would definitely up my current subscription if I could edit comments!
The non-profit/transparency discussion is interesting. Willamette Week, a for profit, does some sort of letter from the publisher every year where they disclose some financial information about how well they are doing, etc. As a non-profit, BP could find it easier to get donations, grants, discounts etc. Salaries could be about the same. On the other hand, a non-profit can’t be sold. It also has a potentially powerful board, although these could be Jonathan’s fans and meet rarely.