by: Christine Haughney | The New York Times

BURLINGTON, Vt. — Vermonters may be quick to boast about their locally sourced foods, their ability to tolerate bitter winters and their celebrated entrepreneurs like Ben & Jerry’s and Burton Snowboards. But lately, they have not extended that praise to their newspaper.

That is because the 185-year-old Burlington Free Press, the state’s largest daily, went through some radical changes in June. Management shrunk the newspaper from a broadsheet to a tabloid (a format from its distant past) and added color to all of its pages. It raised delivery prices, started charging for online access and rebuilt its 45-year-old presses.