“It’s not about the bells and whistles on the page. It’s about doing business in Vermont,” former Seven Days columnist Shay Totten told the New York Times in a story about how Gannett’s daily, the Burlington Free Press, is losing circulation and advertisers. “That’s where Gannett misses the point.”

As Lynne Hefferon and Candice Swenson, both teachers, split a brownie at the August First cafe here, they complained about The Free Press‘s reduced content in print, sporadic delivery and long customer-service waiting times. Ms. Swenson said she was considering canceling the subscription she has had since 1974. Ms. Hefferon said she had canceled after 22 years and dropped it a second time after The Free Press offered her a Walmart gift card to come back. Both women have been reading Seven Days, a free alternative weekly, instead.