Fit-to-Print Earnings?

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It may not be generating much in terms of big, bold headlines, but Gannett (NYSE: GCI), Tribune (NYSE: TRB), and New York Times (NYSE: NYT) will all be reporting their second-quarter earnings this week.

This is a seasonally significant period for the newspaper publishers. Tribune posts its highest earnings of the year during the June quarter. The second quarter traditionally lags behind only the holiday-fortified fourth for Gannett and New York Times. The sector could certainly welcome some good news after the stocks have been sluggish lately.

As a whole, the reports should be a great gauge of the state of media advertising. While the companies specialize in inked content, they are backed up nicely by other media channels such as their heavily trafficked websites and, in some cases, television properties. That is a fair proxy for the state of corporate spending patterns. If companies are feeling more upbeat about their futures -- and are willing to open up the purse strings a little wider to attract more customers -- it will be reflected in this week's reports.

But it won't just be news about the news to watch out for. Bigger names such as Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), Apple Computer (Nasdaq: AAPL), and PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) will also be sharing the earnings stage this week. Motley Fool Stock Advisor readers may note that Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) and Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) will also be reporting later in the week.

The next couple of weeks will be busy with companies revealing the financials behind their June quarters. So stay close. Those big, bold headlines are about to happen one way or the other.

Have you been following the media more than the media companies lately? Have some thoughts to share with your fellow Fools on the latest news stories? All this and more -- in the Current Events discussion board. Only on Fool.com.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz still takes time to read the daily newspaper -- despite the lingering ink and the timelier Internet at his disposal. He owns shares of Netflix but not of any of the other companies mentioned in this story.