Last year when they used the death of a local Marine in Iraq to slap "W" - even after an appeal from the Marines family that stated they supported Bush, the chronicle's subscription rate dropped by the thousands...
They have now resorted to throwing thousands of free papers on area lawns just so they can claim a circulation rate high enough to charge more for their ads.
When the SF Chron did this, I called 'em up and told them that if they didn't stop littering my driveway, I'd have 'em arrested! True.
Our local newspaper was doing this at our house until I called and told them I was calling the police and having them arrested for trashing my yard if they threw one more.