Publisher responds to ‘pay to play’ pushback
By Guy Page
Thank you for reading the Vermont Daily Chronicle. We work hard to deliver independent reporting, strong commentary, and reader conversation you won’t find anywhere else.
Reading and commenting on the Vermont Daily Chronicle has always been free. Last week, however, I unveiled the first ever quid-pro-quo offer to our readers, made necessary by the ever-rising cost of publishing online news.
We announced that while reading VDC will be free, after January 1 only Sustaining Subscribers will be allowed to comment. Also after January 1 the annual cost of a Sustaining Subscription will rise from $108 ($9 per month) to $132 ($11 per month).
The good news is that you can lock in for 2026 at the current rate: if you haven’t done so yet, please click on this link to do so. Whether or not you plan to comment, because believe me people, it’s all hands on deck. If you’re already a recurring monthly subscriber, you don’t need to do anything – consider yourself locked in for 2026.
To the readers who have since answered our call…. thank you, merci, tusen tak, danke, spacebo, gratia, gratia, gratia.
Most of your responses have been understanding. Most people realize that ‘free’ news, isn’t. Someone is selling your data behind your back. Or else a sugar daddy funder is pulling the strings on news coverage while shutting down comments.
Or, more likely, both.
VDC doesn’t sell your data to anyone. Neither does some shadowy wealthy person or NGO write the checks in order to call the shots. (And yes, some have tried.)
Instead, hundreds of readers write checks or give online and trust the editors to call the editorial shots. And when they don’t like what they read, they let us know, and we almost always respond in some way. It’s responsive, you-help-me, I-help-you smalltown journalism on a statewide scale on a digital platform.
Sure, there have been a few uncharitable ‘so now it’s pay to play?’ comments. Including some from people who have commented for years on VDC. To which I can only respond, VDC offers you an unparalleled free speech megaphone to Vermont. VDC is read by all political creatures great and small. I know this because when commentaries and comments hit a nerve, the poohbahs of BOTH parties have been known to write us terse notes and/or stop talking to us.
That’s the price a free press pays to stand tall in the free speech arena.
However, I do feel bad that some folks, including our elders on fixed incomes, are having to make tough choices about spending even as little as $9/month. I urge them to continue reading, to submit letters to the editor (free when published), and to comment on our Facebook and X pages.
Becoming a 2026 Sustaining Subscriber at the current low rate until Jan. 1 is simple:
• To contribute $9 monthly on a recurring basis, please click here.
• To contribute $108 for one annual Sustaining Subscription, please click here.
To contribute $216 for two annual Sustaining Subscriptions, please clickhere.
If you prefer to mail a check (suggested annual contribution $108):
Vermont Daily Chronicle, P.O. Box 1547, Montpelier, Vermont, 05601.