Small Weekly Thrives on Personal Delivery Amid Print Decline

Founder Mark Frost drives a Subaru Forester each Thursday morning, loading bundled copies of *The Chronicle of Glens Falls* and making rounds to drop-off points. One regular spot is a Hannaford grocery store where William Norton, 74, waits in his maroon Chevy Silverado to collect 40 free copies for neighbors in Stony Creek—a “twisty and tenebrous ride” from Glens Falls. Frost’s hands-on approach, including face-to-face checks of newspaper racks, aims to ensure each copy reaches a reader rather than being discarded.

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Since the mid-2000s, nearly 3,500 newspapers nationwide have ceased publication. In contrast, about 2,250 independent, often family-owned weeklies like *The Chronicle* have remained “relatively resilient,” according to Zach Metzger, director of the State of Local News Project at Northwestern University. Metzger notes that large newspaper chains, which favor consolidation, “can’t be bothered” with such small-scale operations, leaving “shoe-leather” distribution as a key factor in their endurance.

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• Mark Frost — founder of *The Chronicle of Glens Falls*, veteran of door-to-door newspaper delivery.

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• William Norton — 74-year-old community distributor who picks up copies for Stony Creek residents.

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• Zach Metzger — director of the State of Local News Project at Northwestern University, researcher on local-news viability.

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Frost emphasizes the tangible impact of personal delivery, saying the effort “just think of the impact of that.” He also recounts a recent encounter in which a would-be taker admitted, “I’m packing some glass,” prompting Frost to retrieve the reclaimed copies. Metzger attributes the survival of papers like *The Chronicle* to the “shoe-leather” work of publishers who maintain direct relationships with readers, a practice large chains have largely abandoned.

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• “That’s all they got to read over there,” — Mr. Norton

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• “Had a guy actually tell me the other day, ‘I’m packing some glass,’” — Mr. Frost, founder of The Chronicle of Glens Falls, N

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• “Just think of the impact of that,” — Mr. Frost, founder of The Chronicle of Glens Falls, N

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