The Wall is Built

Paid subscribers to be rewarded. Free subscribers to be punished.

As I’ve been promising for a couple months, this week is the official re-launch of The Crash Report. That means more content (with help from other Maine writers) as we continue to monitor the impact of extremism locally, political and otherwise. And I’ll keep on publishing news that the mainstream media ignores.

The Crash Report re-launch also includes the construction of a gossamer-thin paywall. Which means that if you’re not a “paid subscriber” you’ll have to wait a day after publication to access future Crash Reports.

Implementing a paywall, btw, was a tough call.

On one hand, if every reader of the Crash Report subscribed for $7 monthly or $75 annually, we could further expand and add another full-time reporter or two. We live in a mercantile world, obviously, which means consumers usually pay for goods and services rendered. Unfortunately, the Legacy Media screwed up during the transition from print-to-digital, so lots of folks mistakenly assume on-line content shouldn’t cost nuthin. And that makes it it tough for indie media like The Crash Report to survive, unless we receive financial support in the form of paid subscribers.

On the other hand, it feels strange to keep our reporting on scandals and shenanigans away from the unpaid-subscriber masses. Considering these crazy times, I believe the stories like how rich Maine pervert Eliot Cutler’s money protected him from real prison time for his crimes against society — published in a Feb. 2024 Crash Report — should be shared widely in order to inform and illuminate.

Also, it feels exclusionary and counterintuitive, for instance, to put behind a paywall, such reporting as Maine GOP leader Billy Bob Faulkingham’s tall tale of a make-believe rogue wave sinking his lobster boat. To keep Faulkingham’s $600,000 mistake a secret is certainly unneighborly. (Especially since the rest of the media has ignored his serial lies and deceit.) It’d be like knowing downeast Maine was in the path of a hurricane, but only warning the rich island folk of the imminent storm.

All that said, though, it takes lots of time and labor to produce and publish the meaningful investigative journalism you’ve come to expect from The Crash Report. And with more contributors coming aboard, that means extra mouths to feed and bills to pay in order to fulfill the mission at hand: Afflict the Comfortable and Comfort the Afflicted.

That’s why I’ve come to the conclusion that a 24-hour paywall is an adequate compromise between free and un-free. Paid subscribers deserve special appreciation for their support, thus they can read and comment the very moment each new Crash Report is published. For seven bucks per month (or $75 annually) subscribers receive instant access to my exclusive reporting, plus the writing, musings and more from Charlotte Agell, Dennis Bailey, Reese Calloway, Amy Fried, Mira Ptacin and others. Plus subscribers get unlimited access to The Crash Report archives.

Free subscribers, however, will have to wait for one full rotation of Earth on her axis before gaining access to the new news. Then, 86,400 seconds after publication, the paywall will magically disappear, with free words for all! (Except for Crash Reports six months or older, which are only available to paid subscribers through the archive.)

Also, in the case of important breaking news — such as my exclusive story last fall about the neo-Nazis influencers inspiring the alleged So Po High wannabe shooter — the Crash Report will be published, sans paywall, in support of the public interest.

However, one simple trick will allow you to bypass the paywall and archive-block: become a paid subscriber ($7 monthly or $75 annually) and show your support for independent journalism that goes places other media won’t.

For less than the current purchase of a dozen free-range eggs (per month) you get unlimited and early access to The Crash Report and archives. In addition, paid subscribers get access to the Chud-Free Chat™, our members-only community bulletin board. Plus paid subscribers are invited to join a monthly Crash-Call™ (via zoom) during which I answer questions, discuss reporting projects, investigative journalism techniques, chud-hunting, hog-raising, goat-tending and more.

On last thing: I know that some folks don’t like to sign up for digital subscriptions. That’s why checks and money orders sent via snail mail work just as well and unlock paid subscriber benefits. Mail to: Crash. Box 465, Canton, Maine, 04221. Last month, for instance, I received a very nice handmade card (and a check for a hundred bucks) from some super-sweet folks in Aroostook County who’d been reading my stuff for a long long time. Thanks for your support and I hope to get a letter from YOU real soon.