Gannett Joins the Gang

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I feel like I'm covering yesterday's news, but I promise it's actually today's. With so many other newspaper companies giving bleak near-term outlooks in the past week, Gannett's (NYSE: GCI) announcement of similar prospects make me feel like I'm having a case of newsprint déjà vu.

Most recently, it was the New York Times (NYSE: NYT) forecasting gray skies for the Gray Lady. Before that, Knight Ridder (NYSE: KRI) lowered the boom. It's been a tough year, even though statistics had already given us an inkling of things to come.

Despite the gloomy outlook, Gannett still expressed optimism for the second half of the year. After all, this is the company publishing colorful USA Today, whose bright palette proved to traditionalists that newspapers don't have to be in black and white to be taken seriously. It's not too difficult to buy into Gannett's more cheerful outlook; the company has done quite well with its national focus and digital initiatives.

Gannett expects second-quarter earnings to be roughly flat compared with the first quarter -- this adds up to 5% earnings growth from the same period the year before. The increase is heartening -- analysts had expected an 8.5% jump in second-quarter earnings. The company highlighted its online business, as well as non-daily papers, as bright spots.

I've said before that, were I searching for growth, I wouldn't look for it among newspapers. Though some might find the current stock prices attractive, it seems that at the very least, there are still plenty of short-term difficulties ahead.

For more on newspapers, please see the following recent articles:

• Trying Times at New York Times
• Quarterly Malaise at Knight-Ridder
• Newspapers' Poor Circulation

Do you keep current with the news, whether that's through the Internet or old-fashioned newsprint? Talk to Fools about the issues on the Current Events discussion board.

Alyce Lomax does not own shares of any of the companies mentioned.