Those who say print is dead should make the delivery rounds on Thursday mornings with Mark Frost, founder of The Chronicle of Glens Falls, N.Y.
As Mr. Frost drives around in a Subaru Forester packed with bundled newspapers, the faithful stand waiting at drop-off points. One of those spots is a Hannaford grocery store where William Norton, 74, waits in his maroon Chevy Silverado, ready to grab 40 copies of the free weekly for his neighbors in Stony Creek, a twisty and tenebrous ride from Glens Falls.
“That’s all they got to read over there,” said Mr. Norton, by way of explanation.
People running off with stacks of Chronicles is common enough that Mr. Frost has taken to quizzing them on their intentions. Printing is expensive, after all, and he wants each copy to reach a reader. “Had a guy actually tell me the other day, ‘I’m packing some glass,’” Mr. Frost recalled. He took the papers back.
Mr. Frost’s travails are common to a plucky category of publications sprinkled across the country. Though nearly 3,500 newspapers have ceased publication since the mid-2000s, about 2,250 publications like The Chronicle — independent, sometimes family-owned weeklies — have been “relatively resilient,” said Zach Metzger, director of the state of local news project at Northwestern University. Large newspaper chains, the ones prone to consolidation, can’t be bothered with them.