A Suggestion For Paywalled Sites In The Right

     There are a number of worthy news and op-ed sites that are either paywalled or partially paywalled. I regularly visit several of the partially paywalled ones, but not being a paid subscriber, ai have no access to the material behind the paywall. However, I do get regular solicitations from them to pony up, so that I’d have access to the totality of their offerings.

     I have a standard reply to all of them:

     Some don’t trouble to answer. Those that do tell me, no doubt with regret, that they only accept payment by credit card or through an online payments processor such as PayPal. And that ends the exchange, as I refuse to subscribe under those conditions.

     Let’s imagine that one of them were to reply “Here’s the address.” I’d have a second question for that one:

     I’d bet heavily against receiving a reply to that.

     Much as I’d like to support other writers in the Right, I’m unwilling to give my credit-card number to anyone who doesn’t already have it. (That’s a small set: Amazon and the C.S.O.) I dislike so many of the possible consequences that it’s become unthinkable. Moreover, it’s not because I fear the theft of my credit-card number… well, mostly.

     Today’s market for personal information is so huge, and has so much money flowing through it, that there’s simply no way to predict where your data will go once you’ve given it to anyone. It’s the greater part of the reason for junk mail, junk email, and junk phone calls. But there’s more and worse in the offing:

• Discounted subscription rates are almost never offered to existing subscribers;
• Automatic renewal is a looming threat even if you’re vigilant about expiration dates;
• Once resubscribed without your consent, getting the matter corrected is a labor of Hercules.

     I can’t say of my own knowledge how many potential subscribers to sites such as PJMedia, RedState, or TownHall feel the way I do. I suspect there are many, including many who’d subscribe at once were those sites to rent a post office box and alter their policies on renewed subscriptions. If those sites would like to increase their subscriber base (and their revenue), I suggest they reflect on the questions I posed above.