Really, what is BC
worth to you? Is it worth about a $1 an issue to support the
only site on the web devoted exclusively to commentary, analysis
and investigations affecting African Americans? We know that
for some of our readers, it is, and for that support, we are truly
grateful. But here’s where it gets difficult. Generous support
from only about 3% of our readers just isn’t enough to keep us
going.
We’ve been to other websites; we know
how they do things. As a casual reader, you can read a summary
of an article, but you have to pay to read the full thing. Or,
you can read some of the articles, but not all of them. Or, you
try to read an article, and have to click through a dozen pop-up
ads, and watch little characters prance across your screen, advertising
everything under the sun. We really don’t want to do that to
BC, which people tell us is a darned attractive
site. We remain committed to providing free access to those readers
who find the BC Paid Subscription fee a burden,
and we are adamant that we will never sell our free speech to
Big Corporate Money.
So, what can we do to convince you
that it’s worthwhile to become a BC Paid Subscriber?
Would you like us to offer shorter-term BC Paid
Subscriptions, say 3-month and 6-month? We have that in the works,
but programming costs money, and we’re trying not to unnecessarily
spend what little funds we have. Would you like to read more
readers’ comments? Would you like to see a Book Review page?
Let us know, because the reality is, if we are not worth it to
our readers to spend a little over $1 an issue, then we should
go find something else to do. It’s really as simple as that.
Or, are we already doing enough, and you keep meaning to become
a BC Paid Subscriber, but something else always
seems to come up just as you’re about to go to the Sign
Up Page? Well, stop procrastinating! Please.
Here’s a little graphic to show you
where we are on the survival scale:
We need 20% of our readers to be BC
Paid Subscribers in order for us to survive. Beyond that, we
can begin the outreach plans we have to decrease the “Digital
Divide” in under-served, economically-strapped areas. We dream
of that, but our reality is that we either reach the 20% by the
end of 2006, or we don’t continue to publish beyond the end of
the last BC Paid Subscription. It’s simple economics,
and the BC Readers will determine which way BC
goes – onward, or out.
If you want to know more about what
it means to become a BC Paid Subscriber please
visit our Frequently
Asked Questions page. If you have a question we didn't answer,
please let us know by contacting Nancy
Littlefield.
Thank you.
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