Judging by the comments posted to our website this morning, our [announcement](http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/dailyfeatures/article_53272808-a2f7-11e1-9b0d-0019bb2963f4.html) that the Chronicle is becoming a paid news site is not a popular one.
Commenter fenske_art starts us off with [this fairly low-key comment](http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/dailyfeatures/article_53272808-a2f7-11e1-9b0d-0019bb2963f4.html#comment-0842e750-a32e-11e1-907e-3f60cac865a2):
>You guys are dreaming.
Soon after, [from CHEVYINSIDE](http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/dailyfeatures/article_53272808-a2f7-11e1-9b0d-0019bb2963f4.html#comment-452f2c52-a33b-11e1-829f-101f742cbcde):
>sorry your not worth paying for bdc .
User Hobbit takes [a more conspiratorial approach](http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/dailyfeatures/article_53272808-a2f7-11e1-9b0d-0019bb2963f4.html#comment-dbb42378-a33e-11e1-a97a-101f742c2de4):
>Oh, well, there is no real news here anyway. I only read this paper when I want to see what important news it is leaving out to satisfy the powers that be. I read a lot of “alternative news” to see what is really going on, then look at Lee Enterprise propaganda to see what people are really being spoon fed. I won’t miss you. Your advertisers might miss me. I see print newspapers being shared around in coffee shops, etc. How will you stop that? This is a step backwards, whether you realize it or not. The idea that I should pay for propaganda is ludicrous.
TrueMontanan hopes the meter will [weed out some trolls](http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/dailyfeatures/article_53272808-a2f7-11e1-9b0d-0019bb2963f4.html#comment-7d9193f2-a343-11e1-bc76-9b2567068fa8):
>Congratulations BDC! I applaud your move in this direction. $5 a month is nothing if people really want to support you or pay attention to what is happening in the Bozeman area. On an even more positive note, maybe this will weed out some of the people here that flood the comments section with ridicule and negativity. June 5th can’t get here soon enough!
Commenter cotton [points out](http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/dailyfeatures/article_53272808-a2f7-11e1-9b0d-0019bb2963f4.html#comment-9d648264-a345-11e1-9547-101f742cecfe) that our copy desk is illiterate — a secret we’d hoped would stay secret. Thanks a lot.
>If you are going to start charging for online access, a big mistake by the way, I hope you hire a copy editor who can read English
I think [this one](http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/dailyfeatures/article_53272808-a2f7-11e1-9b0d-0019bb2963f4.html#comment-ec64fbf4-a350-11e1-9c5d-57ba362e6365) from NoThanks is supportive. I think.
>Two things: either your increased fees will allow you to hire better reporters – or a drop in income as a result will force you to let the poorer writers go.
CutTheCrap [pines for the way things used to be](http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/dailyfeatures/article_53272808-a2f7-11e1-9b0d-0019bb2963f4.html#comment-67c97e0e-a35c-11e1-9449-77af67e9a280):
>Darn… The chronicle’s website was one of the last great free satire websites out there. Now where an I going to go?
MTPack [says](http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/dailyfeatures/article_53272808-a2f7-11e1-9b0d-0019bb2963f4.html#comment-1dbb5962-a35d-11e1-9b71-f35d0af37ff2):
>Bad Move in my opinion…..PAYING for content that is virtual??
>
>The Newspaper industry is on the downward slide…good luck with this….
(I guess this is why Facebook’s IPO was valued at about $100 billion and why there have been more than 25 billion apps downloaded — many of them paid apps — from Apple’s App Store.)
[A more in-depth comment ](http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/dailyfeatures/article_53272808-a2f7-11e1-9b0d-0019bb2963f4.html#comment-8c774830-a35c-11e1-9453-2b96967a7815) comes from allankings:
>You who get your news from alternative media…at least on the local level…do you think those “news” sources do all their own legwork? No, they grab their information from the mainstream news sources, repackage it, and regurgitate it to you in a format that makes you feel smart for already believing something. As goes the local news sources, so goes your favorite local online news regurgitator, I’m sorry, I meant news aggregator.
>
>The same people who don’t want to pay for the news are the same people who complain about the content. You want to read a newspaper with revenue for an experienced, well staffed news team, but you only want to pay for a newspaper who’ve cut staff, reduced wages, “let go” of experience and replaced them with 22-year old college graduates.
>
>All that said, Chronicle. This website is garbage. You (read: your parent company) are doing yourselves no favors by sticking to its format.
The comments on Facebook so far have been a tad more civil, as Facebook comments tend to be.
LaVonne Maedche Stucky [writes](https://www.facebook.com/dailychronicle/posts/238690322904324?comment_id=880788&offset=0&total_comments=23):
>You just lost the small-town feel. Sad and sorry to see Bozeman and the Gallatin Valley become this………
Personally, I don’t understand this one. You can only have a small-town feel if there is a way to skate around paying for the local newspaper?
From [Josh Bergan](https://www.facebook.com/dailychronicle/posts/238690322904324?comment_id=880713&offset=0&total_comments=23):
>Seems fair to charge for your work to me. That said, I probably won’t pay.
And I’ll wrap up on [this one](https://www.facebook.com/dailychronicle/posts/238690322904324?comment_id=880758&offset=0&total_comments=23) from Matt Fockler:
>‎”There’s nothing wrong with being paid for a valuable product.” I guess you’ll see just how valuable your paper really is …
I suppose we will.
If you have comments you’d like to share about the Chronicle’s move toward a paid online model, you can leave them as comments here, comment on [our Facebook page](http://www.facebook.com/dailychronicle), send me an email at