Free Republic

The publisher of the Detroit Free Press, the country's 20th largest paper by weekday circulation, is expected to announce next week that it will cease home delivery of the print edition of the newspaper on most days of the week, according to a person familiar with the company's thinking. The publisher hasn't made a final decision, said this person, but the leading scenario set to be unveiled Tuesday would call for the Free Press and its partner paper, the Detroit News, to end home delivery on all but the most lucrative days—Thursday, Friday and Sunday. On the other days, the...

Newspaper publisher Gannett said on Wednesday it expects its 2008 revenue to fall to $6.8 billion from $7.4 billion last year, underscoring what is shaping up to be the worst advertising market in decades. The publisher of newspapers such as USA Today also told attendees of a UBS investor conference that it expects to shoulder severance costs of $45 million to $50 million in the current quarter for its previously announced plan to cut 10 percent of its workforce. "We're focusing on leaner operations across the board," Chief Executive Craig Dubow told attendees during a Webcast of the conference two...

The nation's largest newspaper company, USA Today publisher Gannett Co., has begun implementing a 10 percent work force cut announced in October in response to declining revenue. Employees at some of the company's 85 local and regional papers learned Monday and Tuesday what cuts will occur at their publications. The latest reductions follow a 3 percent cut announced in August. Both cuts are separate from a 5 percent trim from USA Today's newsroom announced Nov. 24. A spokeswoman for McLean, Va.-based Gannett did not immediately return calls seeking comment Tuesday. The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle in New York said Tuesday...

The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle says it is eliminating 59 jobs, or 8% of its work force, to pare back costs during the weak economy. The daily newspaper says it will lay off 34 employees later this week and has already accepted 14 voluntary reductions, 3 of them in the newsroom. In addition, it says 11 open positions will not be filled. The newspaper has not yet specified how many of the layoffs will occur in the newsroom. After the cuts are made, it will have 680 full-time and part-time employees. Publisher Ali Zoibi says rising costs and a drop...

Memo sent to USA Today staffers on Nov. 23 To: The newsroom staff From: Ken Paulson and John Hillkirk The current economic crisis has taken its toll on businesses nationwide, including USA TODAY. This will mean a cut in our 2009 budget, including the elimination of about 20 positions in early December. We wish this wasn't necessary, but we're facing unprecedented economic challenges and we have to cut spending. We'll have our regular monthly staff meeting Monday at 5 p.m. EST and will discuss this development and answer any questions you may have, but here are the basics: Those whose...

Reeling from a second consecutive quarter of revenue losses, Gannett just announced plans to lay off 10% of its newspaper employees -- about 3,000 workers -- by early December, as the nation's top newspaper publisher struggles to right itself. The mass layoff was disclosed in a memo from newspaper division president Bob Dickey (left). The unprecedented cuts follow the elimination of more than 1,000 jobs over the past two months in Gannett's biggest and most troubled unit: the community newspaper division. Its 84 dailies plus USA Today account for nearly 80% of revenue, and 65% of GCI's 46,000 employees. The...

Gannett Co Inc, the largest U.S. newspaper publisher, posted lower-than-expected quarterly profit on Friday, reflecting anemic print advertising sales across the industry. Shares fell as much as 9 percent shortly after trading began on the New York Stock Exchange, a move reflected by major indices including the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which dropped near 400 points after U.S. markets opened. The results cap more than a week of stomach-churning ad declines at U.S. publishers Media General Inc, McClatchy Co and New York Times Co. The worsening world financial crisis is aggravating the already weakened state of U.S. newspapers, which have...

Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI - News) reported today that 2008 third quarter earnings per diluted share from continuing operations were $0.69 compared with $1.01 per share in the third quarter of 2007. The results for the quarter include $23.0 million in pre-tax severance expenses ($14.4 million after tax or $0.07 per share) related to reductions in force and efficiency efforts in the U.S. and the UK. Absent severance expenses in the quarter, the company would have earned $0.76 per share.

On a bad day for newspaper stocks, shares of Gannett Co. (NYSE: GCI) sank Wednesday to their lowest price in 18 years. Gannett tumbled 11.25% during the session, shaving $1.18 off its share price to close at $9.31 a share. It price, adjusted for splits and dividends, hasn't been that low since October 1990. Gannett is scheduled to release its third-quarter results on Friday morning. Based on the weak revenue figures already released by The McClatchy Co. and Media General, Wall Street is clearly not expecting good news from the nation's largest newspaper publisher. Shares of The New York Times...

Gannett reported today that advertising revenue at its publishing division plunged 16.8% in August compared to the same period a year ago on steep declines in classified advertising revenue. Classified advertising revenue decreased 28% on severe drops in real estate (down 40.0%), employment (down 33.6%) and automotive (down 21.1%). Both of Gannett's U.S. and U.K properties experienced declines. At Gannet's U.S. community publishing division only, total classified revenue fell 25.8% on a 32% drop in real estate revenue, a 35.1% drop in employment revenue, and an 18.3% drop in real estate revenue. Total retail advertising revenue at Gannett's publishing division...

Letter from Gannett U.S. Community Publishing president Robert J. Dickey September 9, 2008 Dear Fellow Employee, Given the job reductions across our division in the past month, I wanted to share with all of you our reasoning and plans for the future under a new structure we are implementing beginning today. Like many businesses, the weakening economy has had a significant effect on our financial performance. Hardest are the classified categories – real estate, employment and automotive, where our year-over-year classified losses are in the 25% range. But it does not stop there: All segments are struggling with the current...

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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...