In Vermont, a Venerable Paper Fights for Readers
Posted: 10/2/2012 | 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.