An Update From Richard Fernandez

As some readers will have doubtless noticed, some but not all of my articles are appearing behind the PJMedia paywall. The Belmont Club, as I promised, will always remain free to read in the years I have left in me to write. The people who supported the Belmont Club on Paypal deserve nothing less than continued “free.”

I thought I would share with readers my philosophy regarding paywalls. Most people subscribe to a combination of free and paid. For example, they may use some streaming services while also watching YouTube for free; subscribe to some paywall newspapers while refusing others. This applies to our physical consumption as well. There are those who will pay for VIP lounges at airports, while others can do without or mostly pass these up if charged. Even the elderly face these choices. My 96-year-old mom’s Alexa Echo will play some music for free but only provide full service by subscribing to an Amazon service.

I guess it’s the way of the world. There seems to be no complete way around paying for some stuff. Some time back I wrote an article for a major national newspaper and it wound up — you guessed it — behind a paywall. Given this reality, what you choose to pay for comes down to consumer choice. My own decision rule is to pay for:

• what I really need, e.g. domains, hosting, repositories, certain paid or premium software
• what I want to support, including certain platforms, because their goals are really valuable to me
• and for the rest I will make do with free

I suspect it is much the same for most people, except those who can afford to light the stove with $50 bills.

Subscribing to PJ Media VIP represents a way of accessing content that you feel you either need or wish to support. My obligation is to write my best on either side.

Right now, there’s a 40% discount on an annual membership (regular price $89). That comes out to just over $1/week. Membership grants access to VIP content at all the Townhall Media sites: PJ Media, Townhall, RedState, Twitchy, Hot Air, and Bearing Arms. You can use the promo code SAVEAMERICA to get that discount.