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Gannett Co. Inc., bedeviled by plunging classified advertising, reported a 12.3 percent decline to $546.4 million in revenue for July compared to a year ago. A 25.2 percent decline in classified advertising sales reduced publishing revenue 16.7 percent to $340 million. Real estate classified revenue was 37.9 percent lower, employment classified revenue was down 29.1 percent and automotive classified revenue declined 21.1 percent. Broadcast revenue declined 6.1 percent to $61 million while a 4.2 percent decline in paid daily newspaper subscribers reduced circulation revenue by 2.6 percent $108.7 million. The latest figures from the Mclean, Va.-based media giant, the nation’s...

Gannett, the largest newspaper chain in the country, is preparing to trim 3% of its workforce -- or 1,000 employees -- through cuts and attrition. Gannett Vice President of Corporate Communications Tara Connell confirmed the reductions to E&P Thursday afternoon, adding that decisions on staff cuts would be made at each property based on financial targets and performances. The McLean, Va.-based company publishes more than 80 dailies, including USA Today, and 900 non-dailies. Gannett corporate is expected to review and approve the decisions. The Gannett Blog, run by former Gannett editor and reporter Jim Hopkins from Ibiza, Spain reported Wednesday...

Updated at 11:44 a.m. ET on Aug. 14: The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., is among the first newspapers reporting layoffs on Thursday. Earlier: A Maryland publisher told employees late Wednesday afternoon that Gannett is eliminating 1,000 newspaper jobs, or about 3% of the troubled newspaper division's workforce -- and that about 600 employees are being laid off, a Gannett Blog reader says. The reader provided a copy of a memo that Daily Times Publisher Rick Jensen e-mailed about 4 p.m. today at the paper in Salisbury. "Across Gannett’s Community Publishing division, about 1,000 positions will be eliminated -- about 3%...

Eight months after becoming the only local daily in the city, Gannett Co.'s Cincinnati Enquirer is seeking to buy out 50 staffers. In an e-mail to employees Monday, Publisher Margaret Buchanan said the paper is looking to make the reductions among non-union employees. "If this voluntary offer doesn't result in a sufficient number of volunteers, or if in the future, economic conditions worsen, it may be necessary to consider layoffs," Buchanan wrote. On offer is two weeks of salary for every year of service plus health benefits for a period of up to 52 weeks. The offer expires Aug. 15,...

Gannett Co. Inc., which last month warned it would be taking a big non-cash write-down in goodwill and other impairment, said in a regulatory filing the charge amounted to $2.8 billion pre-tax, and $2.5 billion after taxes. In mid-July, Gannett had issued a preliminary financial statement for its second-quarter, reporting earnings per share of $1.02 compared with $1.24 per share in the year-ago quarter. In its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gannett adjusted that to a Q2 2008 loss of $2,290.8 million or $10.03 per share from continuing operations, including the impairment charges. The year-ago earnings of...

Gannett shares were down as much as 13% Wednesday after the newspaper publisher and broadcaster reported that second-quarter earnings and revenue fell short of Wall Street's expectations and warned that it will take a charge in the same quarter that reflects a decline in the value of its assets. The news marks the latest sign that newspapers are having difficulty making the transition to the online era. Gannett stock was down $2.10 to $15.25 in morning trading on heavy volume of 5.2 million shares. In the quarter ended June 30, the publisher of USA Today said it expects to take...

Gannett Co. Inc. (GCI) said Wednesday that preliminary second-quarter earnings were $232.7 million, or $1.02 a share, compared to $365.7 million, or $1.56 a share, in the same period a year ago. Earnings from continuing operations were $1.02 compared with $1.24 per share in the second quarter of 2007. The preliminary results, however, do not include non-cash charges to be recorded in the quarter, which have not yet been finalized. The non-cash charges are expected to total in the range of $2.6 billion to $2.9 billion on a pre-tax basis and $2.4 billion to $2.7 billion on an after-tax basis....

Gannett Co. Inc. said Friday it is reorganizing its U.S. Community Publishing division, reducing the number of regional groups by one to four and seeing off two retiring top executives. Under the new structure, five regional groups have been reorganized into four: East, South, Interstate and West. Interstate will be headed by Senior Group President Barbara A. Henry until Aug. 1, when she is retiring, Gannett said. Henry, 55, has also been president and publisher of The Indianapolis Star since 2000. She began her career at Gannett as a reporter at the Reno (Nev.) Gazette-Journal in 1974, and later became...

CHICAGO Gannett Co. Inc. has an enviably low debt burden and online businesses growing at a healthy rate, yet even it cannot escape Wall Street's current aversion to newspaper stocks. The latest evidence comes from Morningstar Inc., the Chicago-based investment research firm. In its latest note from stock analyst Tom Corbett Morningstar lowered its "fair value estimate" of Gannett stock to $23 from $32 a share. It said investors should "consider buying" the stock at $17.30, and "consider selling" at $29.90. In afternoon trading Tuesday, Gannett (NYSE: GCI) was at $22.59, off 18 cents, or 0.8%, from its opening. It...

<p>Gannett Co.'s (GCI) total advertising revenue fell 14.3% to $347.1 million in May from $404.9 million in May 2007, the media company said late Tuesday.</p>

Gannett this afternoon announced it is freezing the pensions of company employees, according to sources at several newspapers, who said a memo on the plan was sent today from Gannett CEO Craig Dubow. The change includes a change in 401K match, with employees gaining main Gannett stock for each contribution to their 401K fund. Gannett officials did not respond to requests for comment. The move comes just days after Gannett announced it would write down its assets by about $2.5 billion to $3 billion this quarter to reflect the declining value of its operations in the United Kingdom and the...

The nation's largest newspaper chain, Gannett Co., will write down its assets by about $2.5 billion to $3 billion this quarter to reflect the declining value of its operations in the United Kingdom and the United States. At a Deutsche Bank investor conference in New York, Gannett Chief Financial Officer Gracia Martore said much of the writedown reflects a declining value in Gannett's United Kingdom newspaper operation, Newsquest. It also generally reflects "where the market perceives traditional print businesses to be," she said. Stock in Gannett, which publishes USA Today, has lost roughly half its value in the last year,...

Looking at the "Updated FR Excerpt and Link Only" thread, I see that Gannett Papers are on the "link only" list: "Received another letter from Gannett Publications, publisher of USAToday, and several other newspapers. Due to contractual arrangements they have with third-party content providers, they have denied our request to allow posting of excerpts. They will only allow the posting of titles and links. Please do not post full text or even excerpts from the following Gannett Web sites: " I understand why, with the costs of legal time and the likelihood that the MSM/DemocRAT party would want to shut...

Gannett April operating revenue falls 7.7 percent, on decline across all categories MCLEAN, Va. (AP) -- Gannett Co., the nation's largest newspaper publisher, said Monday its operating revenue fell 7.7 percent in April. Total revenue for the period ending May 4 fell to $639.6 million from $693.3 million in the comparable period a year ago. Publishing advertising revenue fell 10.4 percent to $410.9 million, hurt by the shift of Easter into March this year. Retail advertising revenue fell 6.1 percent to $189.5 million, hurt by fewer furniture, entertainment and telecommunications ads. Classified revenue fell 15.8 percent to $155.5 million, due...

ASBURY PARK Gannett Co. Inc. on Friday said it was offering buyouts to a total of 160 workers at five of its six newspapers in the state of New Jersey, as advertising revenues decline. The buyouts were offered to employees over age 55 who have at least 15 years of service with the company, said Judi Dorsey, vice president for human resources at the Asbury Park Press, Gannett's flagship paper in the state. The 160 employees targeted were asked to respond to the offer by the end of next week. Layoffs are possible if not enough buyouts are accepted, Dorsey...

Gannett Co. Inc. blamed a slowing economy for fewer advertisements in its newspapers and on its television stations as it announced Monday that revenue and profits declined in the first quarter of 2008. The McLean, Va.-based media company owns the Cincinnati Enquirer and Community Press newspaper locally. Net income fell 8.9 percent to $191.8 million, or 84 cents per diluted share, from $210.6 million, or 88 cents per diluted share, in the year-ago period. Revenue declined 8.4 percent to $1.68 billion for the first quarter compared to $1.83 billion during the same quarter last year. It was the fifth straight...

"Gannett Co., the nation's largest newspaper publisher, said today its operating revenue fell 7.2 percent in February, hurt by a continued decline in real estate and employment ad sales." Awwww too bad.

Gannett Co., the nation's largest newspaper publisher, said Thursday that January operating revenue dropped 7.5 percent on sharp declines in real estate and employment ad sales. The publisher of USA Today said pro forma operating revenue slipped to $575.4 million from $622 million. Pro forma assumes all properties were owned in both the latest and year-ago periods. Total newspaper advertising sales fell 9.2 percent to $371.4 million. Classified ad sales slid 16.1 percent, with real estate down 25.3 percent and employment revenue off 19.1 percent. National ad revenue climbed 5.9 percent to $62.5 million. Broadcasting revenue slipped 6 percent to...

Newspaper publisher and broadcaster Gannett Co Inc (NYSE:GCI - News) posted a 31 percent decline in quarterly profit on Friday due to lower broadcast and print ad sales and an impairment charge. Gannett said it faced a "softer" economic environment, echoing the comments of other U.S. newspaper publishers this week. The USA Today publisher said fourth-quarter net income fell to $245.3 million, or $1.06 per share, from $353.5 million, or $1.51 per share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 12 percent to $1.9 billion, below the average Wall Street forecast of $1.99 billion, according to Reuters Estimates. Excluding an impairment charge...

Good reporters flee The Tennessean as the paper flounders in the free media age by Matt Pulle Imagine you're Tennessean editor Mark Silverman. The job is not what it once was. First of all, one of your titles is vice president for content and audience development, which makes you sound like a middle manager at the WB network. The stock of Gannett, your corporate parent, is down 42 percent in just the last year. And worst of all, you feel the need to tailor the paper's coverage away from politics and crime and toward soft, lifestyle features as you try...