The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demographic.

[1] It is part of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia and it emulates the typical publications of the 1960s counterculture movement.

[2] The Chronicle was co-founded in 1981 by Nick Barbaro and Louis Black, with assistance from others who largely met through the graduate film studies program at the University of Texas at Austin.

Its precursor in style and format was the Austin Sun, a bi-weekly that had ceased operations in 1978, after four years of publication.

With a progressive point of view and irreverent voice, the Chronicle covers local and state news as well as the Austin food, film, theater, art and music communities.