Since the end of the pandemic, newspapers have struggled to find enough carriers to throw print editions onto driveways. Pay increases and signing bonuses haven’t really worked. Now a new solution is taking root at smaller papers that is likely to spread up to larger ones:
Abandon carrier delivery and turn the job over to the U.S. Postal Service.
Since 2022, Gannett has transitioned more than 70 markets from carrier delivery to the USPS, spokesperson Lark-Marie Anton told me by email, with more on the way through 2024.
The trend is cascading through mid-sized groups and non-chain papers as well.