Gangrey
Vol. I · No. 1Prolonging the Slow Death of NewspapersEst. 2026

What If We Charged Them To Comment?

Money

Want to drop a comment on GoErie.com? Pay up. The Erie Times-News is testing a plan to start charging $2.99 to comment on stories as an Insider:



"We are developing this as a paid feature to help deliver a safe environment where engaged and informed readers can carry on a robust conversation about current events."



Makes sense to me. We all know that racists are broke.



I'd tweak the plan, though. I'd charge a dime a comment rather than a flat monthly fee. Hand over your credit card info and we'll bill you, and think hard about what you want to say.



Will this work? Other ideas?

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