30 Comments - JS Mill - Monday, Jan 13, 20 @ 12:00 pm: =Rep. Caulkins (R-Decatur) is an Eastern Bloc member. You know, the free enterprise types. He apparently takes the “free” part a little too seriously.= Rich, you are missing the point here, if HE wants it free then it should be free. He is the arbiter of free. /s - Chicago Cynic - Monday, Jan 13, 20 @ 12:01 pm: Excellent response from Liam Ford. - Boomerang - Monday, Jan 13, 20 @ 12:02 pm: = P - NIU Grad - Monday, Jan 13, 20 @ 12:07 pm: I see these comments the most on FB stories coming from more conservative areas…like clockwork they bombard major news stories that are posted. In contrast, I seem to know more and more liberal friends who take pride in paying for a membership to their favorite paper. - JoanP - Monday, Jan 13, 20 @ 12:22 pm: Heck, I pay for the Washington Post despite the fact that I hate giving money to Jeff Bezos. - Just Another Anon - Monday, Jan 13, 20 @ 12:22 pm: I find paywalls to be obtrusive and irksome, but not just because they block content. Even if I subscribe, I still get a ton of obtrusive ads impeding me reading the story. If you are going to put a paywall on your site, then I reasonably expect that site to be ad-free. There is nothing worse than the eye-cancer that is banner, scrolling and sidebar ads that take up 80% of the screen. - Jocko - Monday, Jan 13, 20 @ 12:24 pm: Rep. Caulkins should have replied to Ford’s post and said “send the bill to Chicago and the collar counties, they pay for everything else.” Like NIU states, I treat my Trib membership (and taxes) as the cost of being in an informed democratic republic. - Oswego Willy - Monday, Jan 13, 20 @ 12:26 pm: Meh. Mr. Caulkins new 51st State will have “Free” state run news… That’ll show us. - Dotnonymous - Monday, Jan 13, 20 @ 12:26 pm: Free Dan Caulkins. - 47th Ward - Monday, Jan 13, 20 @ 12:29 pm: I hate it when roads cost money to build and maintain. Are there better options? - Rich Miller - Monday, Jan 13, 20 @ 12:31 pm: 47th Ward wins - Because I said so.... - Monday, Jan 13, 20 @ 12:33 pm: I hate when I pay for a subscription but the site can’t seem to remember me. I constantly have to log in. - Annonin' - Monday, Jan 13, 20 @ 12:41 pm: Did not know Gomer knew how to nanaread or was he whining about comics. BTW Katrina promised a radio audience that she will recycle the email issue in the Tuesday paper. - Rich Miller - Monday, Jan 13, 20 @ 12:49 pm: ===site can’t seem to remember me=== Yeah, the Sun-Times is horrible at that. - Michelle Flaherty - Monday, Jan 13, 20 @ 12:52 pm: He really hates sending money to Chicago for anything - Dotnonymous - Monday, Jan 13, 20 @ 1:24 pm: Free Dan Caulkins…Please. - PublicServant - Monday, Jan 13, 20 @ 1:43 pm: Fox News ain’t got no dang firewall. - Snark - Monday, Jan 13, 20 @ 1:53 pm: I just assumed he got all of his news from the Proft papers… - LTSW - Monday, Jan 13, 20 @ 2:05 pm: He could legitimately use his official office expense allowance to pay for the subscription. - Cheryl44 - Monday, Jan 13, 20 @ 2:41 pm: Just Another, if you subscribe to a print newspaper, do you expect no print ads? - Wire Tap - Monday, Jan 13, 20 @ 3:09 pm: There’s a rumor around the Capitol that Caulkins is Uncle Pennybags… - Soccermom - Monday, Jan 13, 20 @ 3:13 pm: “47th Ward wins” Always - Flat Bed Ford - Monday, Jan 13, 20 @ 3:15 pm: Caulkins is willing to pay for ads against suburban members of his own caucus but unwilling to pay for anything else. - Lefty Lefty - Monday, Jan 13, 20 @ 3:43 pm: ===site can’t seem to remember me=== ===Yeah, the Sun-Times is horrible at that.=== I complained to Block Club Chicago (the old DNAInfo site) about that problem last year, and the nice subscription person emailed back within a day saying they were working on it. They actually were — it worked fine within a week of the conversation. I’m about to subscribe to the Sun-Times; I just ran out of free views. It went from no blocking to partial blocking of the page, and now it fully blocks the page. SUBSCRIBE. Funny that the webmaster can pull that off but can’t get the password to be saved. If you’re reading this, Sun-Times webmaster, I’m only giving you one chance once I subscribe!! Also jeez what year does Rep Caulkins think it is? You either subscribe or you don’t. - Da Big Bad Wolf - Monday, Jan 13, 20 @ 3:54 pm: Caulkins needs to stop into a barber shop or diner. Usually there’s an abandoned newspaper there. Or else there is good old dumpster diving in the recycling bin. - Nearly Normal - Monday, Jan 13, 20 @ 5:10 pm: If the representative has a public library, he may have access to the digital edition via his library card. Most libraries have online resources for their patrons, including periodicals and newspapers. - Nearly Normal - Monday, Jan 13, 20 @ 5:20 pm: Rep. Caulkins is a Decatur resident so yes he does have a fine public library. I am sure their staff could find that important article for him if asked. - statehouse - Monday, Jan 13, 20 @ 5:26 pm: >If you are going to put a paywall on your site, then I reasonably expect that site to be ad-free. There is nothing worse than the eye-cancer that is banner, scrolling and sidebar ads that take up 80% of the screen. Sort of agree. Except with the Trib, there is something worse. You get that banner, and then when you manage to click the X to close out, it bumps you somewhere else on their page, and you have to scroll back, in the process re-triggering the banner! I’m a paying subscriber, too. - Odysseus - Monday, Jan 13, 20 @ 6:39 pm: “Just Another, if you subscribe to a print newspaper, do you expect no print ads?” I do. There is no reason to abuse paying customers. - statehoss - Tuesday, Jan 14, 20 @ 10:53 am: Yes, journalists do need to be paid. I’m a subscriber to a number. On the other hand, I wish there were a fast, appropriately priced way to pay for a couple articles from a paper I don’t subscribe to. Not much sympathy for a state legislator who resists paying for the paper of record in his state, though. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.