Ed Shamy is the lone employee of the County Courier newspaper in northern Vermont.  Reading the description of what Ed Shamy does to operate a one man newspaper, it occurred to me that all he’s really doing is publishing a paper blog.  Check it out:

He opens mail, stuffs envelopes, fields complaints and helps unload the advertising inserts from a tractor-trailer that pulls up once a week outside the brick building, sending all hands outside to lift the stacks of fliers off the trucks and carry them inside.

And he writes a column, of course – about the traffic bottleneck at the Swanton municipal complex, about Vermont’s penchant for elections, about the local guy who found a battered book of mysteries along a roadside and set out to find its owner.

What he doesn’t have yet is a paycheck, but that’s his own decision. continue reading at SFgate.com

Ed’s passion about newspapers and journalism runs deep.  I can’t help but draw parallels between him and what the multitudes of bloggers out there are attempting every day.

He’s doing exactly what I talk about at the end of my podcast.  Running a small paper, getting involved with his community and building his value around the needs of that community.  This is what all the big papers are doing wrong.  

I love his story and I wish him the best of luck.

About the County Courier:

With over 100 years of publishing history, the County Courier is comprised of the Enosburg Standard, The Richford Journal-Gazette, The Swanton Courier, and the St. Albans Leader. 

We are a weekly, tabloid-sized newspaper published every Thursday. 
The Courier is Franklin County’s only all-local newspaper, featuring more than eight pages of news stories and issue-oriented coverage, as well as expanded Arts and Entertainment coverage each week. We also include many pages of school news, outdoors features, old-style social items, births, obituaries, and local sports. 

Our circulation is 4,100 papers, widely available in stores in Franklin County, Alburg, Jeffersonville, Johnson, Waterville, and Belvidere. The newspaper is also mailed to subscribing customers. 

Our advertising deadline is Monday at 5 p.m., and the deadline for editorial copy is Tuesday at noon. 

Pick us up today and find out why we are a favorite paper of Franklin County residents.